Sand Blossom
by Yachiru-Chan2008
Summary: What if Sakura was born and raised in Sunagakure, and eventually became close friends with Temari and Kankurou? But something goes wrong, something is misunderstood, and she finds herself exiled from Suna and the Land of Wind. This is her story. Sak/Gaa
1. Regret

**Hey everyone! YC here with a brand new story! I found myself obsessed with this couple when I read a story with this pairing, and since then I've been writing stories for them. But I didn't want to post anything that I didn't really put effort into, but with this story I did, so here it is! Welcome to the world of _Desert Blossom._**

**Here's the full summary, which is very important as there are several simple changes made.**

**First off, Sakura was born in the Land of Wind and trained under Chiyo as a medic-nin alongside her best friend, Ino. Because there was no Sasuke to break up their friendship, they remain close friends throughout the majority of the story, though they still have rivalry between them. Ino, Sakura, and Sai were placed in a team together, and back in Konoha, Shikamaru is in a team with Sasuke and Naruto. But Sakura agreed to something she shouldn't have, fell in love with someone she shouldn't have, and when he finds out something he shouldn't have, he comes to the wrong conclusion! Exiled from Sunagakure and the Land of Wind, Sakura hides in a town on the Land of Wind's border, feigning amnesia and desperately seeking a new purpose in her life. A year has passed, and something terrible is in the air, but Sakura, exiled from the Land of Wind and thought to be a shinobi traitor, cannot do anything to stop it! So what will she do now?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own! The world of Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. However, this is my twist on the Naruto series, therefore the majority of this plot is my own.**

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_I was standing in the sun, my odd pink hair contrasting strongly with the golden sand that surrounded me. I closed my eyes, shielding them from the burning sun, and then I waited. And I waited. Finally, the wind shifted, and I opened my eyes to find a man in Kazekage robes standing there. I bowed respectfully, and he nodded at me coldly. "You called for me, Kazekage-sama?" I questioned in a soft tone, and he nodded again._

"_Yes, I did. Haruno Sakura… Chiyo-baa's favorite student." He sneered slightly, and I nodded, reigning in my irritation. I quite enjoyed having my head attached to my body, thank you._

"_I was, Kazekage-sama." I said, emphasizing the past-tense slightly._

_"You excelled in healing and in the art of making potent poisons…" The man said with a pointed look, and I frowned. _

_"You… need me for poison making?" I asked incredulously, and he nodded tensely._

"_As you know…my son is an extremely dangerous and unstable monster." He said icily, and I nodded with a frown, not liking where he was going. "For the moment, he is… helpful. He succeeds in all his missions, but he also kills people who are on our side." He narrowed his eyes as he said this, grinding his teeth in irritation. "Every assassination attempt has failed because all physical attacks are instantly blocked by Shukaku's sand."_

"_I see. So you want to take a different route, then?" I guessed, and he nodded curtly, not even sparing me a glance._

"_Physical attacks don't work, even if the attacker is close to him. Your mission, Haruno, is S classed." He stated coldly, and I immediately straightened up. "You are to get close to that monster, and once you have his trust… slip a poison of your choice into his food or drink. Ensure that it is potent enough to kill him, Haruno. Do you accept this mission?" He asked me icily, and I nodded affirmation._

_"I would be honored, Kazekage-sama. I will succeed where all others have failed." I said with a bow, and he nodded._

"_Once you are certain you can successfully poison him, come to me. I will decide whether or not he has outlived his usefulness." He growled softly before disappearing in a swirl of wind._

"Saki-sama." A soft voice jerked me from my nightmarish memory, and I snapped my head around to see a small girl standing there. My hair had grown longer over the years, and I kept the mid-back length pink hair up in a high ponytail. It had taken me almost a month to finally adjust to acknowledging my new identity, 'Saki', as my name. I had come to this village after being forced out of Sunagakure, injured, and pretending that I had no memory of my past.

I was found just outside the town by a man who took me in when he realized I 'couldn't remember anything'. At first, he didn't know what to call me. We waited for my 'memories to return', and after some time, we gave up. The man dubbed me 'Saki'. Briefly, I wondered if _he_ would appreciate the irony of it…"Saki-sama?" The girl called again, looking at me worriedly.

"What is it, Miyuki?" I asked the girl with a soft smile, and she looked at me fearfully.

"It's daddy. He got hurt again." She said quietly, and I smiled reassuringly at her. I offered her my hand, and she happily took it, leading me out of the small house and towards a small building that was being built. "There." Miyuki pointed towards a man who was laying on one of the planks.

"Thank you, Miyuki." I gave the girl another reassuring smile so she would release her tiny grip on my hand before I made my way over to the man. "Idiot." I chided him lightly, and he grinned sheepishly at me. He had green eyes and blonde hair, while Miyuki had blue eyes and blonde hair. The man held his arm out to me, and I rolled my eyes, delicately taking it. "This is the fourth time you've broken something since you found me." I said thoughtfully as I started to heal his broken bone. I wouldn't be able to heal it all the way, but I could speed up the healing process.

"I know. I'd be lost without you." The man said with a laugh, and I shook my head at him, a small smile dancing at my lips. After a month of me staying in the town, someone got badly hurt. Without thinking, I healed him, and everyone saw. Realizing my mistake, I had thought up a quick excuse, feigning fear. I lied and said that I acted on instinct and had no idea what I had done or how, nor why I knew what to do.

Accepting that I had once been a medic shinobi, and that I had no memory of it, they moved on, putting my skills to use. They helped me 'learn' how to use the powers when I needed to, and I became the village healer. "Yes you would. And you'd have none of your limbs either." I teased and he laughed.

"Hey, I never broke my right leg. Just my left." He said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, and you broke it twice." I commented and he shook his head.

"You have no faith in me." He whined and I rolled my eyes, pulling my hands away from his arm.

"You need to get that wrapped, or else you'll re-break it… and I won't heal it if you do." I added before my words gave him any ideas.

"All right, all right. Such a nag." He whined and I grinned at him, shooing him off towards the doctor. As I watched him go, my smile faded and I narrowed my eyes, standing up straight. I raised my head to the mountains to the southwest, frowning deeply in concentration.

"_You got style, girl." _

"_And you've got some awesome attacks, Temari. It's a wonder how you aren't a Chuunin yet." I complimented and she shrugged._

_"Baki wants us to be at our best. Besides, you know that my father wants his shinobi as powerful and well trained as possible." She said calmly, but I heard a bit of bitterness in her tone._

_"It must be rough." I said with a sigh, and she looked at me questioningly. "Having a father that pretty much neglects you… I mean, no offense, but the Kazekage doesn't exactly scream hugs and kisses type." I said with a snort of distaste and Temari barked out a laugh._

_"You got that right, Sakura. He's a dick." She laughed and I grinned at her. "What about your parents?" Temari asked curiously._

_"Not sure." I admitted with a thoughtful frown. "I don't have any. No clue who they were, or even if they are alive. I was found by Chiyo-baasama when I was a baby. She brought me here and I was raised in the orphanage." I explained without a care._

_"Is that why she trained you?" Temari asked and I shook my head._

_"Well, kind of, but not really. I was four years old and I was hurt pretty bad. She hadn't yet retired at this point, mind you." I said quickly before continuing. "Anyways, she healed me up and that inspired me to become a medic. After a lot of arguing, I finally managed to convince her to train me." I said with a grin. _

_"But I don't get it. If you wanted to be a medic, why did you stop training?" Temari asked in confusion, and my smile faded._

"_I excelled, Temari. That's why." I said with a sigh, and she blinked, looking even more confused. "It took me only three years to be as good of a healer as her. Then another three years to be as good of a potion maker as her. I stayed for another year under her guidance, helping her train Ino, but I left when I turned eleven. Then I trained for two years, mastering my own jutsu's." I explained with a small sigh._

I opened my eyes again, letting the memory fade to the back of my mind once more. _Stay where you belong._ I thought as I turned on my heel to head back to my home. _In the past._

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I stared up at the sky, sitting on the edge of my window. When I moved into the house with Miyuki and her father, I had asked them to install a large bay window that faced southwest. When they asked why, I told them it was because I felt something there. Something calling me from within my memories. The memories part was a lie, but something was calling me. I stared at the southwestern sky, watching as the clouds drifted across it, disappearing behind the mountains.

_I wonder if he ever thinks of me…_ I mused before narrowing my eyes, anger slapping away any other emotion I had. _Of course he doesn't. Even if he does, it's probably just to figure out if I'm dead yet and he has one less issue on his plate._ I snapped at myself, glaring at the mountains that separated him from me. When I was exiled from Sunagakure, they had also exiled me from the Land of Wind. However, I ignored the last part. Determined to be close to Suna in case something happened, I stayed in this border town, which was just inside the Sunagakure border with the Land of Rivers.

Because it was a border town, shinobi often passed through, so I spent most of my time in my room, only leaving when someone was hurt bad enough that they couldn't come to me on their own. When I was home, I would sit in my bay window and watch the southwestern mountain range. And sitting there, I would feel the chakra, forever mixed with evil, and just feel it… _His_ chakra.

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**So, guessed who '_he' _is yet? Yeah, I know, not that big of a challenge, but *shrug*. Please read and review, as reviews make me all warm and fuzzy on the inside. ;) **


	2. Dread

**So here's chapter two! I'm glad so many people liked Chapter one, but I wish more people reviewed it. This chapter is really where it starts to kick off. Also, I'm a little annoyed because I didn't realize how short the first few chapters were since I started to make them longer after a while. I hope you guys don't mind =(.**

**Disclaimer! Naruto still isn't mine, but if I had my way, Gaara would be... Or maybe Itachi... It's probably unhealthy that the two guys who started off as insane and evil are my first choices, eh?**

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"_No, Temari. Don't put that in there." I grunted, grabbing the shaker of crushed red peppers from her hand before she could put it on the pot of noodles._

"_But it's no good without it!" Temari exclaimed in protest._

_"So then put it on your plate once you've served it. Don't make everyone else suffer through it." I teased, sticking my tongue out at her. Temari rolled her eyes, grumbling 'bossy' under her breath as she stuffed some noodles onto her plate and then roughly snatched the shaker from my hands. I laughed as she piled the crushed red peppers on top of her food like it was sauce. "Jesus, Tem… How does your tongue not have holes burned through it?" I asked in disbelief._

"_I love spicy food." Temari growled defensively and I shook my head, laughing at her._

"_Spicy food, or foody spice?" I countered with a pointed look at her plate, but she ignored me._

_"Remember, Sakura. Don't speak or even look at him directly." Temari whispered to me seriously before walking into the dining room. I narrowed my eyes worriedly, wondering how the hell I was going to pull it off when his own sister couldn't talk to him without getting a death threat. I followed her into the dining room and faltered when I immediately met the cold and hateful eyes of Gaara. Quickly redirecting my gaze to my plate, I carried it to the table and sat down, then experienced the most uncomfortable meal of my entire life._

"Saki-sama?" Miyuki asked and I looked sideways to see the girl standing there with a hesitant look on her face.

"Yes, Miyuki?" I asked gently, and her expression turned hopeful.

"Will you show me how you heal people?" She asked and I smiled at her.

"Well, Miyuki… Learning to heal is really difficult. It takes a lot of time and skill." I explained hesitantly.

"But I want to help people." Miyuki murmured dejectedly, guessing that I was saying no.

"Miyuki…" I sighed, and she didn't look at me, instead staring down at her feet. "Miyuki, look at me." I commanded gently and she slowly raised her eyes to meet mine. I eyed her carefully and critically, realizing that she was determined. She was young, only four or five, but she seemed to really want it. _But then again, she is a kid. She'll probably change her mind in a week or so… _"Miyuki, I don't know how long I'm going to be here… If you decide you don't want this, we'll stop… But I suppose for the time being I can teach you." I finished after a moment and Miyuki grinned at me brightly.

"Yay!"

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Something was off, I realized a few days later when I was showing Miyuki how to wrap, change, and clean bandages. "See, Miyuki? You need to be slow when you get to the parts of the wrap that touch skin." I explained as I was changing a dirty bandage from one of the workers who got hurt. "Now watch what I do…" I instructed and the girl leaned forward, intently watching as I very slowly peeled the cloth from the man's hand. About halfway uncovered, I felt his skin stick to the bandage slightly, and immediately stopped.

"Now, Miyuki. I felt a slight tug there, so I know that his injury bleed and the bandages are stuck to the scab. This is tricky, because you can rarely remove the bandage without cause pain. First, I'm going to get some nice lukewarm water, like what we have here." I took a small cloth off the table beside the hospital bed the man sat on and dabbed it into the water. "You'll do this, and then very lightly dab the cloth with it." I demonstrated as I dabbed his hand with the cloth, just enough for the water to soak into it without really touching him enough to feel.

Then, when I was done, I set the cloth in the bowl of water and returned to unwrapping the bandage. The bandage came off clean, the scabs sticking to his wound. "Wow!" Miyuki gasped in awe, and I smiled at her. _She's so much like Ino… _I thought, smiling sadly at the thought of my old teammate. I briefly wondered how she and Sai were doing, but shook the thought away.

"Well, doc? How is it?" The man asked and I focused on my job once more.

"The burns are minor. It will be several weeks before you fully heal, and a couple of months for all the scarring to face. I don't see any signs of permanent damage, which surprises me. You're lucky the fires didn't singe any nerve bundles, or else you'd probably be crippled by pain for the rest of your life." I explained as I tested the feeling in his fingers. Satisfied, I set the pen down. "All right. You need to keep it dry, so you can't wash your hand. I would suggest using a sanitized wipe to wash your fingers free of germs, though."

After explaining all the instructions to him, he left. "All right, Miyuki. Put everything away while I clean these up." I said as I stood up and took the bowl of water, the rag and the bandages that sat in it, and headed out of the room. I made my way towards the bathroom and set the bowl on the side of the sink, plugging it up and filling it with water. As it filled, I stared in the direction of the southwest, uneasy. I didn't know why, but I felt like something was wrong.

_Damn… Why can't I shake this feeling?_ I wondered in irritation. I lifted the dirty bandages and dropped them into the sink filled with water, then turned off the water. Wincing at the hot water, I shoved my hands wrist deep into it and massaged the bandages carefully, cleaning them as best I could. Suddenly, my discomfort increased, and I frowned. Stilling my hands, I closed my eyes and concentrated on a spark in my mind. I continued to focus on it when suddenly, the spark grew in scale.

_Shit… He's fighting… Damn. I always get twitchy when he fights._ I thought worriedly, chewing the inside of my cheek slightly as I watched the spark. I didn't know how much time passed as I watched the spark increase then slowly start to decrease, but I didn't open my eyes until the spark suddenly dropped in size, becoming nothing more than a faint glow. Panicked, my eyes flew open and I dashed out of the bathroom, leaving the sink of dirty bandages behind me.

"Saki-sama?" People questioned in worry as I bolted out of the hospital and down the streets, headed to the southwest.

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"Oh god." I gasped when I landed several yards away from the gates of Sunagakure to find the gates covered in blood and corpses. Lying in front of me was an unconscious Kankurou, who I stared at fearfully for a few moments. _He's alone… Which means he was careless… Which happens only when those close to him are involved._ I thought quickly, dread setting in when I realized that my assumption was correct. _Which means Gaara is gone, and Kankurou tried to go after him._

Kankurou let out a pained groan in his unconscious state, and I quickly knelt down and put my hands on his chest. I felt around for a moment before I found what I was looking for, and Kankurou groaned again. Narrowing my eyes, I shoved chakra into his blood, forcing it to ensnare the poison in his system. _It's still gathered together… He's lucky I got here when I did, or else this wouldn't completely work._ I noted as I slowly pushed the poison out through his wound, where I gathered it in my palm.

I reached into my medical pouch and pulled out a vial, using my chakra to push the poison into it, then quickly capped it. "Sorry, Kankurou, but I can't stay here to hold your hand through your recovery." I mumbled an apology to the shinobi, who's broken puppets laid around him.

"Sakura…?" Kankurou groaned quietly as I stood, and I frowned at him. He had opened his eyes and was staring blearily at me, looking confused. _He probably still can't see straight… It'll be several hours before he can move right, too…_

"Kankurou… Whoever they send after him, tell them to follow this." I told him emotionlessly, untying the red tie that held my white obi shut. Luckily, I had two of them, so when I untied it, the obi still stayed in place, holding my red dress shut. I knelt down and tied the string around the finger of one of his puppets before I quickly leapt away. I knew that with Kankurou coming back to consciousness, he wouldn't hesitate to attack me. Feeling a blade just barely avoid me confirmed my beliefs.

I ran quickly, not looking back despite him nearly having just cut my head off. Following the soft, almost non-existent glow in my mind was more than a little difficult, but I would find a way. _I swore that I would be there when you needed me, Gaara._ I thought, and then smiled bitterly. _Probably not the way we had intended, but you need me now. So I'm coming._

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I was walking down a hallway for several moments before finally coming to a stop in front of a door. "Sakura-san. He isn't here at the moment." Matsuri interrupted me, and I looked at the apprentice with a frown.

"_How long until he returns?" I asked her curiously._

_"Not long. Only a few minutes." She said and I nodded._

"_Is it alright if I go in and wait for him?" I asked and she nodded with a small smile. "Thanks!" I chirped before walking into the office. It was only a week since Gaara became Kazekage, so I wasn't even remotely surprised by how messy the place was. Giving the room a once over, I decided it was definite that Gaara would be stressing out. Deciding to be kind, I walked over and started to boil some water for tea._

"_Why the hell does a Kazekage have a stove in his office, anyways?" I wondered with a frown. "Probably for the exact purpose I'm using it for… Or maybe they always do what Gaara does and work all night and day and they need food. Assuming that they are, in fact, human." I added the last part with a mischievous smile. "And judging by my few encounters with Gaara's father, one would have to assume that they are not." _

_I pulled the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water into a cup. I reached to get one of Gaara's favorite tea leaves when I paused. "Should I…?" I whispered to myself, narrowing my eyes. Slowly, I grabbed the leaf and set it in the water, allowing the water to soak it up. Hesitating for a brief moment, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pinch of some herb that looked like a few grains of sand._

_I stared at the cup for several seconds of hesitation before dropping the herb into the water. I set the tea on his desk and sat down, waiting for him to return._ _After a few minutes, he did. With a grateful look that sent my heart soaring, Gaara put the tea to his lips and drank. Guilt filled me as he drank, but it disappeared when I saw the herb do its job. There, in the corner of my mind, was a glow, leading me straight to him._

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**Here you go! Sorry again about the length... But anyways, the herb she used is totally made up (no, really?) and it will be further explained later on. Please review! Oh, and I hate having 'Chapter #' for my chapter names, but I'm totally uncreative when it comes to naming chapters. Any ideas would be hugely appreciated! :D**


	3. Fear

**Hey! I was really happy with how many people reviewed and favorited the last story. Thanks guys! Anyways, here's Chapter 3. I want to double the number of reviews by the time I post chapter 4, which would be really easy to do, but I'll post it sometime in the next two days or so either way.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto, and it's probably for the best. Otherwise Gaara would be with Sakura, Shikamaru would be with Temari, Tenten with Neji, Hinata with Naruto, Sasuke would be dead by now cause he's a crazy who needs to be killed already (Don't hurt me, Sasuke lovers! D:) Sakura would be way more of a badass than she is in the manga/anime, and Kabuto would be skinned and turned into a sofa. (They do that, you know. They'll take real snake skin and make all sorts of stuff out of it. You name it, and they've probably done it.) ... Oh, and Anko would be brought in more often doing totally epic and badass things while shouting 'Arriving!' everytime she comes in.**

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I was standing on a mesa just outside of Suna, leaning against the railing and watching the sunset. My arms were folded against the warm railing, and my green eyes were focused on the beautiful pink and orange lights that filtered down around me. "Sakura." Gaara's voice spoke from behind me, and I smiled softly at his voice.

_"You wanted me to meet you here?" I asked without turning around._

"_Yes, I did… I was in my office today when I came across something of interest." Gaara said, and I realized how cold his voice was. I narrowed my eyes worriedly, his heartless tone chilling my spine. "I never knew that you only got close to me so you could kill me." Gaara said, and I felt his stare burning my suddenly tensed back. I froze, not even trying to open my mouth to explain. "My father died and I became Kazekage… But throughout all this, you continued to get closer to me. You continued to follow his orders." He said icily, his tone demanding an explanation. It hit me that it had it all wrong, that he didn't realize that wasn't the case at all… but I made no move to convince him otherwise._

"_That means that you were plotting the death of a Kage." He concluded angrily, and I was briefly relieved. He was angry instead of that heartless way he spoke moments ago. It made me hope this wouldn't set him back on his path of chaos. "You should be put to death." He stated, his voice colder again. I heard him take a step closer. "However, I won't have an execution be the first thing I do as Kazekage."_

_"You are hereby exiled from Sunagakure, and the Land of Wind. You have twenty-four hours to leave this country. If you try to enter Sunagakure anytime during or after those twenty-four hours, you will be killed on sight." He concluded coldly, and I made no move. Exiled?, I thought. Where would I go? Being a shinobi had been my whole life. I'd never left the Land of Wind except for a few missions and the Chuunin exam. I didn't know anyone anywhere else. How would I make a living? _Where _would I make a living?_

_"Go!" Gaara spat, obviously angry that I wasn't following his order. Still in shock, I didn't move, so he used force. I felt something slam into my back, and suddenly I was flying through the air, swiftly approaching the sandy ground many yards below. I didn't even try to save myself. I didn't want to. Even though I knew the fall wouldn't kill me because of the softness of the sand below, I still wanted it to. How could I survive knowing the only person I ever loved wanted me dead? And that it was the same way with the only family I ever had, his brother and sister?_

_So I let the ground meet my falling body without any resistance, and relished in the pain that coursed through my head, shoulder, and ribs at the impact. I had hit the ground on my right side, and was fairly sure that my elbow impacting with the ground, forcing it against my ribs, caused me to fracture if not break a few. I knew my shoulder was dislocated, and judging by the blood that spattered the ground as I slowly stood, I knew my head was bleeding as well._

_And so, forever expelled from my home and new family, I numbly walked through the rapidly cooling and darkening desert. After an hour of slow, dizzied walking in the icy coldness of the desert night, my foot hazily tripped over the other, and I fell to the ground. Giving up, I laid there, frozen and weak, and prayed for the cold to take me. Long before sunrise, and long after I lost consciousness, I was found by a man who rescued me, taking me into his home, where I would stay for a year and many months._

I had been running nonstop for a day and a half, but I wasn't getting any closer to Gaara. In fact, it was the opposite. Whoever had him was moving just enough faster than me to slowly be getting ahead. Apparently they never slept, judging by the fact that they never slowed down or stopped moving, so I didn't sleep either. Unfortunately, I had slowed down a bit due to me losing chakra, and due to my exhaustion.

I wouldn't let myself stop moving for even a moment, though. At least, not until now. I had noticed about four hours ago that I was being followed, and that whoever was following me was gaining on me. _Kankurou must have done what I asked._ I thought as I ran, frowning. At least, I hoped that was the case, and that they weren't actually more enemies. I didn't know how many enemies there were to begin with, only that it was probably more than one. Despite Gaara's small size, being only a few inches taller than myself and I stood at 5 foot two, I was sure that no normal human, shinobi or not, would be able to carry him alone.

_Then again… What human can run for almost two days straight without getting exhausted? My chakra is almost nothing… The only reason I'm still on my feet is sheer willpower. _I thought with a heavy sigh. I had several cuts along my face and legs from branches that I simply didn't have the chakra to heal, despite them being so minor. I was wearing a knee-length long sleeved red yukata with white bordering, a white obi, and a red tie holding the obi shut. For shoes, I wore simple geta. **(The traditional wooden shoes with two platforms on the bottom)**

My pink hair reached mid-back in length, and was tied up in a ponytail to keep it out of my face, but shorter locks of hair framed my face. I was mid air when I suddenly felt some serious killing intent. Unable to get away due to my being in the middle of the air, I twisted my back, rolling through to air. Because of the sudden movement, I collided with a tree trunk, which knocked the wind out of me. I landed unsteadily on my weak legs, finally getting a look at my attacker.

Seeing the enraged face before me drained me of my last fraction of physical strength, and I fell to the ground on my side. "You bitch!" Temari screeched, and I was roughly yanked from the ground by the collar of my yukata and slammed into the tree trunk.

"Temari!" A vaguely familiar voice growled. Unable to meet my old friends stare, and followed the voice to find Shikamaru standing several feet away, beside an alarmed Kakashi and Naruto.

"Temari, calm down." Kakashi said calmly, but she glared so furiously I thought I would burst into flames.

"I won't calm down!" Temari fumed, and I knew from her voice that she was only barely resisting the urge to kill me right then and there.

"What the hell is going on? Why are you attacking Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Because she tried to assassinate Gaara!" Temari snarled. "And I'd bet money that you're helping the Akatsuki finish the job." She hissed, and I snapped my eyes to her furious ones.

"Akatsuki?" I questioned and she slammed me into the tree again, causing me to bite my cheek to hold back a cry of pain.

"Don't you play dumb! How dare you do this! Tell me where he is!" Temari screeched, and I narrowed my eyes. Using a fraction of the small amount of chakra left, I sent a bolt of lightning through my clothes, shocking her hand bad enough for her to release me. Acting quickly, I leapt several trees away from them, but staying near.

"I had nothing to do with this, Temari. I have a hundred people that will tell you I was in a town on the border of the Land of Rivers." I hissed, leaving out the part that it happened to be on the side of the border just inside the Land of Wind.

"How did you know to come here?" Kakashi asked before Temari could speak.

"I…" I hesitated for a moment, lowering my gaze to the ground. "I dosed Gaara's tea with an herb that stays in his body and allows me to feel his chakra." I explained after a moment.

"You what!" Temari snarled furiously. "Why! So you knew when he was dead and could clean up the evidence of murder?" She accused and I glared at her.

"Does it matter why?" I snapped and she glared at me. "What matters is that I know exactly where he is and can take you to him!"

"Temari, she's right." I froze at yet another familiar voice.

"Chiyo-baasama?" Temari questioned in surprise.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Shikamaru demanded immediately, but it was still in a respectful tone.

"I'm the grandmother of one of your enemies, and I am here to help you all." Chiyo said calmly.

"She's… one of the greatest puppeteers and medic-nins of time, and the greatest Sunagakure has seen." Temari explained and Chiyo sighed.

"At least, until someone surpassed me." She said and I felt her gaze boring into me.

"I knew I sensed one of Sai's creations nearby… I just assumed Suna was sending an army." I said before scowling and raising my eyes to meet the gaze of everyone in the clearing.

"Oh, they will be. They aren't far behind, in fact. Just as soon as Kankurou recovers, he will lead them here with Baki." Chiyo explained.

"Wait, what? What happened to my brother?" Temari demanded, glaring at me before focusing on Chiyo.

"He pursued the attackers and was struck down." Chiyo said and Temari stared at her worriedly. "He is recovering… Temari, I _ask_ that you calm yourself down, focus on the task at hand, and forget your personal resentments, or return to Suna and help your brother with his task." Chiyo said in a no-nonsense-or-I-will-knock-you-out-before-you-can-blink tone of voice.

"Fine." Temari hissed, glaring at me again. Chiyo stared at me knowingly while Naruto looked around, confused as hell, and Kakashi and Shikamaru wore expressions similar to Temari's. Suspicious and untrusting, as well as underlying anger.

"Sakura… You know where he is?" Kakashi asked carefully and I grunted affirmation, too tired to nod.

"Exactly at 68,90. He's in this country… They've been heading towards the Land of Fire for some time now, though. Either they are taking him there, or somewhere between here and there." I explained in a vague vand quiet oice because I was tired.

"Wait, we're going to let her tell us where to go? How can we trust her?" Naruto burst out angrily, and I blinked in surprise at his anger. _He had always seemed so carefree… I suppose I deserve his anger, though. I would be furious if someone tried to hurt my friend too… Hell, I am furious, and it looks like he is too._ I thought, eyeing the thick whisker marks on his cheeks and his odd eyes. _What's wrong with him? Is he like Gaara?_ I wondered in confusion, then gave myself a mental shake of the head to clear my mind.

"We don't have to, Naruto. If she leads us into a trap, we have an army of shinobi close behind us. Besides, we don't have anything to lead us to Gaara. She's all we have." Kakashi said with a sigh.

"Fine. But if she tries anything…" Naruto growled, and I just turned my back to them.

"Well come on, then." I muttered before leaping away, once more forcing my neglected body to move forward.

* * *

Finally, after almost another eight hours, I lost my footing while trying to leap into the air again, and fell to the ground. If I wasn't so emotionally numb, I would have been hurt by the fact that no one even tried to catch me. In fact, they completely ignored the fact that I had even fallen, and continued on. They only doubled back once they realized I wasn't getting back up, and even then, only Chiyo came anywhere near me. The others just sat down and started to eat and drink.

Practically drained of Chakra, I wasn't able to move, so I was just laying in the position I had landed in. "When was the last time you slept? For that matter, when was the last time you ate?" Chiyo asked, looking pointedly at my trembling hands. I didn't answer her, simply staring up at the tree branches above us. "…You're being foolish." She murmured in a scolding tone, knowing that the others were far enough away not to hear us. "I know you removed the poison from Kankurou's system."

"The only thing that's got me is how you did it. I was the only one who caught on to the fact that someone had, in fact, poisoned him. When I questioned him, he explained that it had been you. I told him to lie and say that poison was never used, and that his puppet had caught the tie you left behind and tore it from the enemy. Unfortunately, that also means they think you're the enemy, and are following your scent." Chiyo said with an icy calmness as she touched each and every cut I had, healing them one at a time.

"How did you know where to find me without it?" I asked coldly, my tone nearly emotionless.

"Oh, I have my ways, Sakura. Did you forget who taught you to make that herb?" She pointed out coldly, and I probably would have flinched if I could. I narrowed my eyes dangerously.

"I'll keep that in mind, _Sensei_." I growled.

"A little hypocritical for you to be upset over me using that herb on you, no?" Chiyo said before dropping a soldier pill into my mouth and standing up. I swallowed it just as Chiyo tossed a chunk of bread over her shoulder at me and walked towards the rest of the group, who had finished resting and were getting ready to leave. Silently, I stood up and continued to lead them towards the faint chakra in my mind.

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**Here's chapter 3 guys ^^ Hope you liked it! I think Chapter 4 will up in the next two days, but I can't be sure. We're getting the entire downstairs of my house refloored and repainted, so I've been staying up all night cleaning and then only sleeping a little during the day cause of the noise Q.Q. Anyways, please review ^^**


	4. Pain

**Aw... We didn't double the review! =( Oh well. I blame all you lazy readers who won't review xD Just kidding! I'm happy enough just knowing people are actually even reading! I hope you all like the story so far.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto! D: But I do own Gaara... *Holds up a poster of Gaara* Muahahahahaha!**

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"Aha…" I whisper-cheered as I found what I was looking for. I was in the middle of a forest in the night, my hands covered in dirt from digging. I held up the plant with a weak smile of success before I set it down. I pulled my medical bag off my back and set it down, kneeling down in the grass. Acting quickly, I smashed the several herbs around me using a bowl and masher I pulled from my bag.

After several minutes, over twenty, I was glad to see that the plants were now nothing more than mush. I grabbed several syringes and grabbed the mush in one hand, squeezing the juices from it. I filled each syringe with the liquid, able to fill three vials before I ran out. I scowled, but took what I could get and pocketed the syringes after safety capping them. I quickly dumped out the bowl, burying what fell out, and then headed back to the campsite, where everyone was sleeping. _Might as well get a few hours of sleep._

* * *

"_Gaaaara…" I murmured teasingly, and the teenager opened his eyes to see me straddling his waist. We were both naked, the sheets lying around my hips as I sat on top of him carefully. I knew he hadn't been sleeping, but I still liked the way I 'woke' him._

"_What are you doing?" He questioned calmly, raising an eyebrow at me._

"_Let me show you." I said with a grin as I leaned down to kiss him passionately._

I woke up with a jolt, my eyes flying open. The first thing I noticed is that I was covered in sweat and shaking furiously. "Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you?" Temari spat but I didn't even look at her, I was staring to the east with wide eyes, trembling still. "First we couldn't wake you up, now five minutes later you're wide awake and freaking the hell out." Ignoring her, I leapt to my feet, still in my dirtied yukata and sandals.

"We got to get moving." I said quickly, looking behind me to see everyone slowly gathering their things. Except for Naruto, who was in as much of a rush as me. Almost.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked and I looked east again.

"They stopped moving. It must have been what woke me up." I said and heard Naruto growl softly.

"Well come on, then!" He snapped and I immediately burst into a run, not needing to be told twice. Naruto kept pace beside me, and I heard the others quickly follow. _What's going on? I can't stop sweating… I feel like I'm going to be sick. _I thought worriedly as I rushed towards the east where I sensed Gaara.

"They stopped in between the borders of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. About two and a half days away." I informed them as we ran swiftly. We ran for about ten minutes before I figured out the hard way why my body was freaking the fuck out when my mind had been calm. I had been intently watching the faint chakra in the depths of my mind when it suddenly exploded. When I say exploded, I mean it erupted so powerfully that I grabbed my head and screamed on the top of my lungs, collapsing. Naruto quickly caught me and landed on a thick tree branch, holding my shoulders as I grasped my head, screaming in pain.

"What the hell happened!" Naruto demanded in a panicked tone as I screamed, writhing in pain so strongly that he lost his grip on me. I smacked into my side, still holding my head as I screamed in pain, writhing on the branch.

"What's wrong with her?" Shikamaru asked, looking to Chiyo for answers. I wailed in pain, barely making out the voices over the thundering in my brain, tears flowing from my eyes at the pain. **(A/N. The reason she's in so much pain is kind of a long explanation. First off, she doesn't sense Gaara's chakra. She feels it, which is why it slowly gets brighter as she gets closer. Because of how little chakra she could feel, she was focusing quite hard to feel it. The technique used to remove Gaara's Jinchuuriki is extremely painful, as stated and shown in the manga. In my mind since it wasn't really explained, what the technique does is breaks apart Gaara's chakra and leaves only the Jinchuuriki's chakra behind, then consumes it. During the entire process, Gaara was screaming in agony, if you recall. Now, because Sakura is feeling his chakra, and because in my mind this jutsu is quite literally entering his chakra and kicking it's ass, Sakura would feel this too, right?)**

**(At least, I think that makes sense. It does to me, anyways xD. Hopefully it makes sense to you guys too D: Also, since it would be kind of over-dramatic for her to be in the same amount of pain he was in, not to mention that much pain would probably kill you from the stress, it's dimmed down. So while she's in a crap ton of pain, it's not going to kill her, and she doesn't feel as much as Gaara does.)**

"Sakura! What's wrong?" Chiyo demanded, and I felt her hand on my shoulder. I screamed even louder and hit her arm away, my eyes squeezed shut in pain. _Oh god! What's happening to him!_ I wailed in my mind.

"Sakura, is it Gaara?" Kakashi questioned, no one trying to touch me after my reaction to Chiyo's touch, which felt like I was being burned. I nodded frantically between cries of pain, fighting to hold back my screams but failing for the most part.

"Where is he?" Temari demanded and I struggled to talk, but all that came out were screams and sobs.

"7…1…9…6…" I bit out through my screams, which I was slowly reducing to cries of pain.

"Naruto." Kakashi said in an instructing tone, and I heard a loud pop before I was pulling into someone arms. A burst of pain cause by the physical touch caused me to scream out as my sight blackened.

* * *

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto asked in a panicked voice as his clone carried an unconscious Sakura beside him.

"I'd rather not think about it." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"She said it had to do with Gaara… Are they killing him?" Temari asked worriedly, her eyes wide with fear. She grabbed Shikamaru's hand for support, and he let her grip it tightly and make him run beside her.

"No…" Chiyo murmured calmly. "If they were killing him, she'd just feel his chakra disappear. You see, this herb doesn't let her sense chakra. It lets her feel his chakra, which is how she knows we're getting closer and that he stopped moving. Not even the strongest chakra sensor could sense chakra from three days away…"

"So what are they doing to him that would cause her so much pain?" Kakashi asked in his forever laid back tone.

"…They are likely trying to remove Shukaku."

"What!" Naruto shouted angrily, his eyes wide.

"You heard me. The process would be… Agonizing. It's the only thing I can think of that would explain them capturing him and the pain Sakura is feeling through his chakra. They must be removing Shukaku from him, which would affect his chakra, completely separating him from Shukaku." Chiyo explained heavily.

"But… But that would…" Temari stuttered, tears threatening to form in her eyes.

"Yes. It would kill him… But it's a very long process. If we hurry, we should be able to stop it." Chiyo said, narrowing her eyes. She didn't mention that if they didn't get to him very soon, which they wouldn't be able to, he would die even if they stopped the process. She would need to make sure they were too late to stop it, or else Gaara would still die, but Shukaku would be free.

* * *

"_Sakura… What happened to your family?" Gaara asked me one evening. We were sitting on a mesa, watching the sun set in the distance._

"_Oh… I thought Temari would have told you." I said with a frown. "I'm not sure. I never knew my family." I answered with a shrug._

_"You're lying." Gaara said calmly, and I looked at him. "You bite your tongue when you lie."_

"_I do?" I asked with a thoughtful frown. "Huh… I never noticed that…"_

"_Sakura…" Gaara sighed and I pouted._

_"All right, fine. Look, I never knew my parents, but… my 'father' was the third Kazekage." I admitted hesitantly, looking away from him and at the sky. "My mother died in childbirth, and my father couldn't take it. He abandoned Sunagakure and became a missing-nin. The Third Kazekage took me in. I don't know why, honestly. But before I was even a year old, he went missing." I frowned as I spoke. "Then, for some reason, Chiyo-sensei took me in. When I became best friends with Ino, I managed to convince her to train Ino as well."_

"_Sai was assigned as our teammate when we graduated from the academy, and I left Chiyo-sensei's training to train on my own. Ino stayed to learn more, and so Sai and I became the damage and her the healer." I explained. "When you think about it, I was really passed along a lot when I was an infant."_

_"Perhaps they all got sick of you." Gaara said, and I looked at him to see he was smiling lightly, his tone teasing. I stared at him for a moment before grinning brightly._

"_That Uzumaki kid really got to you, didn't he?" I asked with a wide smile and he blinked slowly to confirm. "I'll have to thank him one day."_

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**Ew. I think this chapter was actually shorter than the others. Curses! Anyways, I hope you guys liked the bits of fluff in this chapter! I also hope that explanation made sense. I'm not sure how else I could put it to make it sound sensible xD. Thanks for reading! Please review ^^**


	5. Attacked

**Heya! Here's chapter 5, gusy! ^^ As we speak I'm having even more work done on my house, so that's why the chapters are coming in so slow! :s**

**Disclaimer : Nope. Still not mine. *sigh*... BUT I DO OWN ITACHI! *Holds up Itachi poster* And yes, I do actually have posters of Gaara and of Itachi. It's not my fault I fall for the psycho's... It's hard not to when they are so awesomely good looking xD**

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"We don't know much about our enemies, but we know that one of them is Sasori of the Red sands, a great puppet master. Probably the best in the world. His partner uses explosives that, from what we could see, he makes himself out of clay. They are the two who kidnapped Gaara. Naruto was also targeted by the Akatsuki because he is a Jinchuuriki as well." Kakashi was explaining when I came to. I couldn't move at first because of the immense pain I was in, and found myself almost immediately clamping my teeth down on my tongue to suppress a cry of pain.

"You are?" Temari asked in a surprised tone. "I see…"

"The ones who attacked him was a man with shark-like features who used water jutsu's. A missing-nin from Kiri and one of the seven swordsmen, he goes by as Kisame. The other is a missing-nin from Konoha named Itachi Uchiha. An incredibly dangerous man." Kakashi explained heavily.

"An Uchiha? Well… That makes things more difficult." Shikamaru sighed lazily.

"No… Escaping genjutsu's are easy if you have a comrade. That's why you can never fight an Uchiha one on one. There has to always be two of you. One in front of the enemy, and one behind. With three people, two must stay in front and one behind so that the second one in front can free the first from a genjutsu." Chiyo explained calmly, and I noticed that her voice was a bit… nicer than usual. I was taking deep breaths to calm myself enough to get a grip on my pain.

The pain was immensely strong, but not as bad as the immediate explosion. I was still fighting back screams, and tears and sweat covered my body from the pain alone. I couldn't open my eyes because of how badly my head hurt, as it was the starting point of all the pain so my head hurt the worst, and my entire mind was blanketed in a white glow from the immense amount of… whatever it was I was sensing in Gaara. "How do you break the genjutsu?" Temari asked, and I opened my mouth to answer before Chiyo could.

"You insert chakra into the affected person." I said, my voice rough and gravely and my throat raw. "When you do that, it unbalances the genjutsu and shatters it…" I explained with a wince, now working on stopping my eyes from tearing up from the pain.

"Sakura… How bad is the pain?" Temari asked in an angry tone.

"Like I just got hit by a fully transformed Shukaku. Almost exactly like it, if I recall correctly." I answered dryly.

"Good." She hissed and I opened my eyes a slit.

"When did it snow?" I asked in confusion at the fact that everything was white.

"It didn't." Chiyo replied with a sigh. _Oh._ I thought, saying nothing. I started to sit up slowly, but was roughly shoved back to the ground by a hand on my chest, my head smacking against the earth. _Fuck!_ I shouted in my mind at the pain that had me squeezing my eyes shut again.

"Don't bother. Naruto's clone is going to carry you. Even if you could stand, you'd slow us down." Kakashi said coolly, his tone hurtful even though it was mostly nonchalant. It was colder than the tone he used when he was angry or serious. No, it was distrustful, and I wanted to cry all of a sudden. _God… I'm surrounded by people I used to be so close to, and they all hate me. They all think I'm some kind of killer… I wish they knew the truth, but I just can't tell them... It's too late now._ I thought as Naruto's clone pulled me into its arms. The contact burned, making me feel like the places being touched were on fire.

Pain combined with the sorrow that filled me, and my mind and body were overwhelmed, and so I slipped into oblivion.

* * *

"_What?" I was sitting beside Temari and Gaara, healing his injuries from the fight with Naruto, and staring up at a furious looking Baki._

_"We found his body. I'm sorry guys, but it looks like Orochimaru killed him before the exams and impersonated him." Baki said, lowering his gaze. Because the three were the children of the Kazekage, they were practically treated like royalty. _

_"He's… dead?" Kankurou asked in a shocked tone, and Baki nodded._

_"You three are young… Too young to be parentless. I'm sorry that this happened to you." Baki said with a heavy sigh. I heard a sob and looked at Temari, shocked to see she was crying. Immediately, I put my arm around her and hugged her tightly, using my other hand to heal Gaara._

_"Don't get me wrong." Temari began as she cried, her voice shaky. "I hated the bastard. I'm just… I'm just shocked." She explained with a sob, and Kankurou looked crushed to see his sister reacting like that, but like Gaara, he was almost happy to find their father was dead._

_"Bad father or not, he was a good Kazekage and his fate was too soon. We have no candidates to replace him." Baki admitted with a sigh. "We're probably going to be without a Kage for some time, so the Council will be taking care of everything until we can get a new one. Until Temari hits eighteen, you all with technically be under my care. If you need money, food, or clothes, come and talk to me. Other than that, you guys are free to live here until a new Kage is appointed. If this happens before you're eighteen, Temari, you all can move in with me."_

"_Thank you." Gaara said and Baki blinked at him in surprise before nodding. He stood and left, giving the orphans time to grieve the loss of a parent._

_"I'm moving in." I announced immediately, and everyone looked at me in surprise. "What? Someone needs to keep you crazy bastards in line. Besides, without me, who'll cook and clean?" I asked with a grin, immensely relieved by this news. I kept chanting 'he's gone' and 'yes!' in my mind, thrilled to be able to be close to the siblings without eventually being ordered to kill Gaara. Honestly, at that point, I didn't think I'd be able to kill him. I couldn't bring myself to hurt Kankurou and Temari like that. They were like my brother and sister… and maybe one day I'd think of Gaara as a sibling too._

When I woke, I found the pain was lessening. Instead of making me feel better, it terrified me. I knew how Bijuu were removed, as Chiyo taught me, so if the pain was lessening, it just meant there was less chakra being destroyed… Which meant less chakra to be destroyed. I opened my eyes, seeing more than before even though it made the pain increase quite a bit, and found that no one was around but Naruto's clone, who was watching me from within arm's reach.

Annoyed and needing alone time to think, I swiftly reached over and slammed my fist into the clone's shoulder, causing it to explode in smoke and disappear. "You shouldn't have done that." A cold voice stated and I froze immediately. I narrowed my eyes at the black and red blur several feet away, unable to make out who it was.

"Who…?" I wondered aloud, squinting to no avail.

"You are alone, and injured. Your teammates must not care for you if they left you here with nothing more than a clone to protect you." The masculine voice stated emotionlessly.

"Not to protect me. To watch me." I corrected the person, laying back down and closing my eyes to ease the pain a bit.

"You're foolish to close your eyes near an enemy. Do you think so highly of yourself to assume you can fight me with your eyes shut?" The voice asked and I made no move.

"Nope." I said in a soft voice, my head throbbing too badly to make me want to speak much louder. "I just figure if you wanted to kill me, you could. My eyes open or not." I explained calmly. _Please kill me… Just get it over with already._ I thought sadly.

"You shouldn't have come here." The man said and I rolled my eyes under the lids.

"Too late."

"You should leave."

"Not going to happen."

"And why is that?"

"Because I've got someone to help." I said, opening my eyes and propping myself up on my elbow to look at the blur, which was closer now. _That's right… I need to save Gaara before I can die. I owe him that… I owe him so much…_

"Foolish. You risk more than just your life." The man said and I frowned. "One of the Ichibi's captors wants you as well… and he wants you alive." My eyes widened, suddenly realizing why the blur was red and black.

"Akatsuki." I hissed and the man made some movement. Ignoring the fact that it caused my head to explode in pain, I rolled to my knees and slammed my fist into the rough ground, causing it to shatter. The blur leapt away, and I couldn't see him anymore.

"You aren't fast enough to defeat me… Especially not when you are so badly injured, _Sakura._" The voice said from right behind me, and I quickly kicked my leg out and spun. I felt my ankle hit something before it was suddenly gone, and when I looked behind me, they weren't there. I jumped to my feet and tried to shake away the white that covered my vision. "You're too late to save him." The voice said and I looked around, unable to see where he was. Well, I was unable to see period, but who needs details?

I felt something cut my arm and spun in the direction that the object was thrown, only to have something cut my leg from another direction. I moved to face that direction, and the acts continued until finally, one of the objects deeply cut my back. Bleeding from many places now, I fell to the ground on my knees and hands. One hand was holding my upper body up, while the other hand was wrapped around my bleeding side.

_They really don't care, do they…? I killed Naruto's clone well over ten minutes ago, yet no one is coming…_ I thought miserably. _No… I refuse to be beaten. I need to save him… I have to!_ I shouted in my mind, narrowing my eyes as I forced myself to my feet with renewed strength. "Fine… You want to play hide and seek? Then we'll play!" I yelled, swinging my leg up above my head and then slamming my ankle into the ground. I watched as the earth shattered all around me, causing the trees to tumble to the ground loudly, shaking the earth and causing even more destruction.

Thinking quickly, I leapt away from where I had stood, leaping from cracked chunks of earth to other chunks of earth. I kept myself moving around the destroyed area, leaving drops of blood everywhere I went. "This is pointless." The man's voice said, but I just smiled.

"Or is it?" I questioned, smiling smugly.

"…I see…" The man's voice said after a moment's hesitation.

"Gotcha." I grinned proudly as a massive amount of dark brown poison rose from the chunks of earth. I heard heavy coughing and smiled wider in success.

"What is this?" The voice questioned in a strained tone.

"Poison. My own personal blend… I hope you enjoy coughing up alllll the blood in your body." I said in a sing-song tone. I frowned when the man chuckled.

"It'll be quite the family reunion." The man said before the coughing faded away. Still only seeing blurs, I healed the heaviest bleeding wounds until they stopped bleeding, conserving my chakra. Finally, after several minutes, the poison cloud was completely dissipated and I was able to start making my way towards the corpse.

"What happened?" I stopped myself from jumping in surprise at Kakashi's voice near my ear.

"This asshole here attacked me." I said coldly still limping towards the blurry mass that was the corpse.

"Impossible! This is Yura!" Temari exclaimed in surprise, and I blinked heavily in an attempt to clear my vision from the completely disconcerting whiteness that clouded it.

"Who is Yura?" Naruto asked curiously. _Why is he so quiet whenever I'm conscious? I remember him being so obnoxious before… He must be upset because of my 'betrayal'… After all, I would be his second friend to turn sides on him._ I thought sadly, my expression betraying none of my depressed emotions.

"He's a respected council member of Suna… I'd have never thought him to be a traitor." Chiyo said with a sigh, and once more I thought her voice was lighter.

"Chiyo…" I said, narrowing my eyes at the shortest blur. "We need to have a discussion after all this is over." I growled before I sat down and started to heal my injuries, hidden worry filling me when I felt the pain fading bit by bit.

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**Oh dear. Things are starting to get a bit more interesting, aren't they? Also, please don't think Sakura was OP. She totally got her ass kicked and was only able to defeat him because A. She was sneaky and slipped a container of poison gas into the earth so when she broke the ground, the canister released it, and B. She was blinded! How could someone blind be affected by the Sharingan? *raises eyebrow* But like I said, she barely even won.**

**Please review ^^**


	6. Fury

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 6 for you all ^^ Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter! I hope you all like this one as much or more =) They will start to like Sakura more soon, but not this chapter. It's either next chapter or the one after that when everything is uncovered... But Gaara's still unconcious when that happens, and Sakura asks them not to tell him anything yet! But don't worry, I won't make you guys wait too long for him to find out =) Promise.**

**Disclaimer: I do own Naruto! He's hanging on my wall as we speak, right between Sasuke and Itachi posters!**

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Gaara and I were fighting a strange man name Kimimaro, one of Orochimaru's cursed sealed minions. Gaara had a massive wall of sand in front of us, but all of a sudden, the transformed Kimimaro slammed into it so hard he broke through. "Gaara!" I screamed in alarm when I saw Kimimaro swinging his massive tail towards the man I had grown to love. Without any hesitation, I threw myself towards Gaara, slamming into him and knocking him out of the way just in time for the tail to slam into me. It collided with me so hard that when it slammed me into the sand wall, I went right through it, despite it being as hard as steel. I was flung into the grassy earth several feet away and laid there, almost paralyzed by the damage to my ribs, barely able to breathe as I started to slowly heal my ribs just enough to stay alive.

I was running alongside Kakashi, my arm over his shoulders and his arm around my waist to help me keep up. _That's right…_ I mused as I thought about my memory. _That was only a few months after he fought with Naruto, and he had already changed so much… We had worked as a team to take out Kimimaro with Lee, and there wasn't any hesitation between us. I trusted him with my life, and he trusted his with me._

_And then I had sacrificed myself to save him, thinking the blow would kill me. I survived, and healed myself up enough to move, albeit in exceptional pain, and continued to help him and Lee fight. That fight was when we realized we loved each other… We started dating after I got out of the hospital and we returned to Sunagakure… _I closed my eyes for a moment to hold back tears at the memories. _We won't be able to make it in time, will we?_ I wondered as the pain was still crippling, but not nearly as bad as before.

"There are people up ahead." Shikamaru announced as we descended from the skies.

"It's Team Gai." Kakashi informed us as we leapt from a tree branch and landed on the water just behind a group of four shinobi. "That's a five-point seal." Kakashi said to announce our presence. The four of them turned around, and Lee immediately smiled at me. I weakly smiled back.

"You're late, Kakashi." Gai said and Shikamaru frowned.

"How did you get here so fast?" He asked and Neji looked at Kakashi.

"He sent Pakkun ahead to tell us where to go." He stated and Shikamaru nodded.

"All right. We need to get rid of this barrier and fast." Kakashi said before the conversations continued and Temari and Naruto tried to strangle someone.

"Let my team worry about that. Neji?" Gai looked at the teen beside him expectantly. After searching with his Byakugan and pointing his teammates in the right directions, Gai handed them all radios and they split up.

"Ready?" We heard Gai's voice from the radio around Kakashi's neck ten minutes later. I was standing on my own as Kakashi leapt up onto the boulder, using Chakra to hold himself on the barrier, when suddenly the pain disappeared. I froze, my eyes wide. _What… No… NO!_ I yelled in my mind, searching as Kakashi pealed the seal, the barrier evaporating. I searched and searched, but the pain was gone, and the light faded with it… Gaara was gone.

"No!" I screamed, pulling my hand back and slamming it into the massive boulder as Kakashi barely jumped away. The boulder crumbled and everyone ran in, but I froze at the sight of Gaara's body on the ground in the cave. _No… Oh god, no… Please tell me I'm wrong. Maybe the herb just fell out of his mouth, right? That must be it._ I thought, frantically searching for some excuse, for some reason to explain the absence of chakra in my mind. I don't know how long I stood there, but I focused when I saw Naruto, Kakashi, Temari, and Shikamaru rush past me.

Blinking, I realized that one of the enemies and Gaara's body were gone, and I turned to follow the others. I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. "Sakura, no. They'll get him back, and then we'll figure something out. We need to take care of Sasori so we can go and help the others." Chiyo said urgently, and I numbly nodded. _Yes… We can fix this… No…_ I narrowed my eyes, shock fading. _No, _I_ can fix this._ I thought as an idea struck me. I turned around and faced our opponent with newly born determination.

"Well, well, well… This sure is an interesting partnership." Sasori chuckled deeply, and I looked to my old mentor in confusion.

"That isn't him, Sakura. He's hiding in his puppet…" Chiyo explained, and I smiled weakly.

"Well, in that case…"

* * *

The fight dragged on, and dragged on. I had no idea how long I had been fighting, with Chiyo using her puppets and me using strength to fight and protect Chiyo when needed. Finally, I managed to crush the puppet and the real Sasori came out and started to fight us, his face shrouded. When he summoned a puppet, I heard Chiyo gasp. "It can't be possible…" She breathed out in shock, almost fearful.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked her before the smoke cleared enough for me to see the puppet. My eyes widened with shock. "The Third…?" I breathed out, my eyes wide as saucers. I was staring into the face of the man who was going to raise me, and he was a puppet…

"Heh… Well then… How about we get started, hm?" Sasori chuckled, pulling off the thing hiding his face. I inhaled sharply, stumbling backwards in shock.

"_Chiyo-sensei?" I was in my mentor's living room, four years old, looking at a picture of a red haired boy beside two adults._

_"Yes, Sakura?" Chiyo had asked, and I pointed at the picture._

_"Who's that?" I asked curiously, somehow drawn to the boy in the picture._

"_Oh… Sakura, that man is your-"_

"Father." I breathed out.

"Oh… So you did tell her, grandma?" Sasori asked in amusement, and I stared at his face. It was young and boy-like, with a child-like expression. He smiled, and it hit me how insane he looked. _Stop, Sakura… He captured and killed Gaara, almost killing Kankurou in the process. There's no reason to hesitate._ I thought before narrowing my eyes.

"Of course I did. A child has a right to know who their parents are, whether or not they are murderous psychopaths." Chiyo said offhandedly, as though it didn't really matter. "Even if I never told her your name or that you were my grandson..." She added and I looked at her with shock. _Chiyo is my great-grandmother? No wonder..._ I thought back on how I was told she never left my side as a newborn, making sure I would survive, and that she had trained me.

"I was so proud when I heard you followed in my footsteps, Sakura." Sasori purred, and I glared at him.

"Chiyo-sensei, that's a human puppet, isn't it?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"Smart girl… Would you like me to show you how they work?" Sasori questioned, and before I could tell him off, the puppet of the third Kazekage suddenly flew at me, blade swinging at my abdomen. It was so fast I didn't even have time to blink, but Hiruko's tail appeared between us and I was yanked backwards. _Chiyo?_ I wondered when I regained my footing and saw chakra strings attached to my body.

"Take this!" Sasori laughed as thousands of hands suddenly flew towards me. Chiyo moved me in an incredibly awkward manner, but I decided to trust her to protect me. A good decision, I realized when all the limbs slammed into the ground, barely missing me. I quickly smashed them with my hands and escaped. Because I could even lad, a large cloud of black smoke surrounded me. _Poison!_ I thought immediately, holding my breath. Suddenly, two ropes with kunai flew towards me. I tried to dodge them, but they swung around, pinning my legs together and my arms to my chest.

_Shit… I can't die here. Not yet!_ I thought as I grabbed an explosive tag from my bag. _Fuck!_ I cried out mentally when it exploded, dispersing the poison, but burning me. I was sent flying, and felt Chiyo catch me. I coughed heavily, but managed to regain my footing and stand on my own. I nodded gratefully at Chiyo, glaring at my 'father'. "You bastard… Mark my words, Sasori. No matter what, even if it kills me, you _will_ pay for what you did to Gaara and the Third. I will make you pay!" I shouted as several kunai were flung at us from the human puppet. My vision was clouded with smoke as Chiyo summoned her puppets, blocking the kunai.

"Oh… You brought _those_." Sasori said in an unamused tone.

"I did… The first puppets you ever made. 'Mom' and 'Dad'." Chiyo said calmly.

"What do you plan to do with those? I made them. I know all their tricks. It'll be boring…" Sasori said in almost a disappointed tone.

"Well, Mr. Genius, I'm pretty sure we plan on killing your psycho ass with these." I hissed and he looked at me boredly. I watched as the two puppets held hands and then pulled them apart, wires between the fingers now. They leapt forward at incredibly high speeds, spinning around the massive group of arms and slicing them to shreds. The three puppets collided, Chiyo controlling two and Sasori controlling the Kazekage puppet. After a moment, the puppets pulled away.

"This is getting boring. Let's finish it up, already." Sasori said with a sigh, and I watched as he made a hand symbol, the puppet's mouth opening. Black sand poured from the mouth, and Chiyo narrowed her eyes.

"Oh… shit." I whispered, my eyes widening. _Iron sand._

"You'll be dead in no time with this." Sasori chuckled. "Oh, but not you, Sakura. No, I think it's about time we became reacquainted, hm?" The sand took on the form of bullets, and the 'Mom' puppet grabbed me and pulled me away.

"Uhg!" I grunted as I collided with the ground, the puppet's arm wrapped around me. The smoke slowly cleared, and I saw the 'Dad' puppet in front of Chiyo, protecting her.

"Seems you've tinkered a bit with them. A shield of chakra, hm?" Sasori mused in his bored tone. I watched as Chiyo tried to move her puppet, but to no avail. "Hehe… You know very well that you can't block the attack. You dodge it… Had your hands full getting the girl to safety, eh?"

"Damn it, Chiyo!" I hissed under my breath. _I know everything that she knows. I appreciate her saving me before, but I could have gotten away from this attack myself._

"…You're annoying me…" Sasori murmured suddenly, and I watched the sand gather up. Suddenly, the sand flew at both of us in long spears, too fast for me to react. I felt the collision with the ground and knew the 'Mom' puppet had protected me. _Chiyo_, I thought in alarm, looking over to see, much to my surprise, her protecting herself with her own chakra shielded puppet arm. Sasori smirked as Chiyo's arm smoked and trembled, the iron sand clogging the joints so it couldn't move, breaking it.

"It's just your arm, but… Turning your own body into that of a puppet… Well, as puppeteers, we are bound to think alike." Sasori chuckled darkly.

"I see… So that's why you haven't aged." Chiyo commented calmly as she detached the arm.

"Well, you're all out of puppets… What now?" He asked with a chuckle and I watched with wide eyes as the iron sand melded together to make two massive shapes in the cave. A triangle and a rectangle.

"…Even for someone at my level… I'm at a loss for this one. In any case, Sakura, it's time for you to leave." Chiyo said, glancing at me calmly. I narrowed my eyes, clenching my fists.

"No." I said, grabbing my obi and untying it. It fell to the ground, my white and red knee-length and long sleeved yukata falling to the ground with it. Underneath the yukata, I was wearing a red camisole, red short shorts, and fishnets on my biceps. Strapped to my leg was a sword going from my hip to just past my knee. "Chiyo, use me as a puppet." I said in determination, stepping in front of her. I felt her stare at my back for several seconds of hesitation.

"…I can only use one arm. I won't be able to help you like before." Chiyo warned as I felt her connect chakra strings to me.

"Let me worry about that, Chiyo. Don't forget I surpassed your training almost eight years ago." I reminded her, and I knew she smiled.

"Yes… Let's hope you picked up a trick or two."

* * *

**Ta-da! Things are cooking up! Who would have guessed Sasori to be Sakura's father? I came up with that idea long after I started writing bout how her mother died and her father left, so that wasn't actually based on Sasori. I didn't even decide on it until last chapter xD Hope this doesn't annoy any of you D:**

**Please review ^^**


	7. Despair

**Wow... I guess no one liked the last chapter **

**Anyways, here's Chapter 7, and this is the conclusion to the whole Sasori fight.**

**Disclaimer: I own Kakashi! *points to a poster of Sasuke and Naruto that has Kakashi in a tree in the background* And yes, this will continue until I run out of posters! xD**

* * *

I ran forward towards the triangle shaped mass of iron sand, Chiyo controlling me for the most part as I did. I was yanked into the air just as the triangle slammed into the ground, ricocheted off it, and went through the wall beside the cave entrance. I landed on one of the large boulders, looking up to find the rectangular mass plummeting at me. I leapt backwards, Chiyo pulling me further so I completely dodged it. I hit the ground on my side, quickly rolling to my feet.

With Chiyo's help, I pushed myself forward and slammed a chakra powered fist into the enormous mass. I felt several bones in my hand shatter with the impact, the large mass flying into the ceiling of the cave and getting stuck there. My eyes widened as the ceiling collapsed, and I dodged the rocks that I could, getting cut to ribbons in the process. I winced, panting heavily as Sasori pulled the two masses of iron sand together, making them collide. The collision was so loud my ears rang, but I ignored it.

My eyes widened in shock as the sand exploded into a massive web of needles that went everywhere. _Shit! I can't dodge!_ I thought in alarm as Chiyo yanked me backwards. I felt the needles slice me in several different places and very deeply, blood dripping from the wounds. _Shit… poison…_ I thought in a slurred way as the world spun. I felt my body going numb as I fell to the ground. "Heh… Looks like I need to make a change of plans… Oh well… It was nice knowing you, Sakura." Sasori chuckled, and I narrowed my eyes, inching my hand to my pouch.

I swiftly grabbed the syringe full of the liquid I had made four nights ago, removing the cap and stabbing it into my leg. I heard the air move around me and quickly jumped to my feet, slamming my unbroken fist into the Third Kazekage puppet, shattering it. I watched as the sand collapsed, jumping to Chiyo immediately. "Sakura, you…"

"Made an antidote." I murmured to her with a smirk, and she smiled lightly at me. "I was only able to make three… I just used one, so that leaves two. Take one for yourself." I handed her one sneakily, and she chuckled quietly. "Because I used this antidote, I'm immune for three minutes. We need to finish this in three minutes." I said and she nodded.

"Yes… Let's end this." Chiyo said as I healed her arm. "Sakura… You're almost completely out of Chakra."

"Don't worry, Chiyo. I'm fine." I said, taking out a couple soldier pills. I took four of them, feeling the effect almost instantly. I watched as Sasori removed his robe, and Chiyo narrowed her eyes. My eyes widened in shock and disgust at the sight before me. Sasori was nothing more than a human puppet. Forced onto the defensive, all I was able to do for the first minute and a half was dodge. Then, suddenly, the long blade on a rope the Sasori kept in his abdomen came out of nowhere too fast for me to avoid. I cried out in pain as it went through my side, not deep enough to kill but deep enough that I would bleed painfully for some time.

"Die!" Sasori screeched, for the first time not speaking in a bored tone. I watched in shock as he launched himself towards Chiyo, who wasn't too far from me. Knowing I couldn't get close to her in time, I grabbed the rope and pulled on it as hard as I could while running towards him, using both hands to pull the rope and thus him towards me. Which, by the way, hurt like holy fuck since I was pretty sure I shattered at least twelve bones in my right hand. A split second from hitting Chiyo, the rope ran out. I gave a sharp jerk, sending him flying towards me, and raised my fist to hit him. I slammed my left fist into him, shattering him. But when I turned around, my eyes widened in shock to see he was put back together. I looked behind me to see Chiyo pulling out a large scroll.

"This is a jutsu that I forbade myself. I thought I'd never use it again, but it seems fate has other plans." Chiyo said calmly as she summoned ten puppets from the scroll.

"Impressive… Chiyo's Great Jutsu… 'finger by finger'. I've heard rumors about it. They say you used it to take down an entire castle… That is a considerable amount of puppets, but…" Sasori trailed off as he tossed a scroll into the air, summoning a massive amount of puppets. "With this, I took down a country." He let out a heavy, extremely annoyed sigh. "How will I explain this… How long it took me to take down a little girl and an old hag… that I even had to take out my last trick…"

"Sakura…" Chiyo said, and I ran to her side. "The antidote has already worn off… Do not do anything." She instructed, but I just smiled at me.

"Please, Chiyo. You were my mentor for years. I think you know by now that that is the last thing I'm going to do." I said with a little laugh.

"Indeed… But, this will be the final act. Are you ready?" Chiyo asked, and I translated it to 'Are you ready to die, but at least die honorably, and hopefully take your crazy-ass father out with you?'.

"Yes." I answered honestly, and she nodded. I watched as the puppet armies collided, Chiyo's puppets taking out several of Sasori's with each attack. Even so, we were losing. Every time a puppet would get close to her, I would crush them. I heard Chiyo grunt in pain and turned around to see one of his puppets slicing her. "Chiyo!" I shouted in alarm.

"Sakura, go for him. I will handle the rest." Chiyo said and I nodded.

"All right." I agreed, running into the mass of puppets, barely dodging each attack. One of her puppets dropped something into my hand as I passed it, so I gripped it and charged at Sasori. _Now!_ I thought, throwing the ball at Sasori. The ball turned into a giant seal that pinned Sasori to the wall, parts of his body breaking apart.

"You lose, Sasori. That sealing jutsu completely suppresses all chakra. You can't even use a chakra thread." Chiyo said before falling to her knees with a groan.

"Chiyo! Hurry! Take the antidote!" I said in alarm, running towards her. My eyes widened when I saw Sasori rise up from behind her, and realized it was a trap. _It must have been a regular puppet we sealed!_ I realized as he came at her with a sword. Without hesitation, I moved between them, the blade going straight through the left side of my abdomen. Sasori stared at me, his eyes wide with shock.

"Sakura!" Chiyo exclaimed in alarm as I coughed, blood specking Sasori and dripping from my lips. I started to heal the wound even with the blade in me, but my eyes widened in shock. _I can't fixit… It's a mortal wound… Uhg… And the poison is making my chakra unstable. _I realized just as I felt a needle stab my leg. I looked down to see Chiyo injecting my antidote bottle into me, her shattered syringe lying a few feet away, the antidote soaked into the earth.

"Ch..Chiyo…" I gasped, pained. "Why?" I asked, but she fell to the ground. I felt the blade getting yanked from my body and quickly grabbed it with my left, unbroken hand, holding it in place. "Not so fast… Chiyo!" I shouted just as Sasori disconnected his arm and jumped backwards… right into the blades held by 'Mom' and 'Dad'. I fell to my knees, the blade still stuck in me. _He could have dodged it…_ I thought, looking at the seal that now surrounded him from Chiyo's puppets.

"A part of your real body is still needed to control chakra, Sasori… That was your weak part… and the only part left of that body of yours was the left part of your chest." Chiyo said. "A puppet body, after all, is just a puppet. Your real body is that chest part that uses chakra." Chiyo said before collapsing. My world spinning from bloodloss, I followed her, falling to the ground. I landed on my side, the sword still in me. I felt Chiyo put her hand on me and pull the blade out, causing me to cry out in pain.

"Pointless. I hit a vital point… She'll bleed out." Sasori scoffed, but Chiyo continued to close my wound.

"I'm not doing medical ninjutsu… I am doing a tensei ninjutsu." Chiyo said in a stressed tone, and that was when I fell unconscious.

* * *

When I came to, I quickly helped Chiyo up and helped her make the travel to where the others were. We found them in a grassy area just away from the forest, almost an hour's travel away. When we got there, the first words I heard were, 'Sakura, can you do something?' from Naruto, who looked desperate. Everyone was there. Neji, Lee, Tenten, Gai, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, Kakashi, and Chiyo. After laying him down, I stared at Gaara's corpse for several seconds, completely unmoving.

Tears ran down my face at the sight of him dead, and my legs gave out. I fell to a kneel beside him, putting my hands on his chest. _He's dead… But… Not for long._ I decided, wiping my tears away on the back of my unbroken hand. I placed both hands on his chest, being carefully with my broken one, and they glowed white, the light surrounding the area around my hands. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.

"Sakura…" Chiyo said, but I just focused on Gaara's face as I felt my life draining from me. Sweat lined my face, and I did nothing to wipe it away. I wanted my last sight to be of Gaara, the man I always loved and always would love. "Sakura, stop it." Chiyo growled, kneeling down opposite of me and putting her hands on his chest as well. I blinked in confusion as her hands started to glow as well.

"Chiyo…?" I questioned, confused.

"Let me do this, Sakura. I'm dying… Allow me to at least do this last good deed." Chiyo practically pled, and I looked at her in confusion.

"Why?" Was the only word that escaped my lips.

"Because you are innocent, Sakura." She said and my eyes widened in surprise. "I know that the Kazekage forced you to take that mission, and I know that you rejoiced when he died because it meant you wouldn't have to hurt Kankurou and Temari. I know that you truly fell in love with him, and I know that you hated yourself so much for taking that mission that you were punishing yourself when you didn't try to defend yourself. I know that Sasori had poisoned Kankurou, and I know that you saved him before anyone could even get to him." Chiyo said and I stared at her, stunned.

"I know that from the second you felt Gaara's chakra disappear completely, you planned to do this. But despite those plans, you took a fatal wound for me. If I hadn't been there, you would have died… but you trusted me enough to know I'd save you, and you'd be able to bring him back at the cost of your own life. I know that despite the distance, from wherever you were, you would always look in the direction of Gaara. Always."

"How-" I began, but she cut me off.

"I know this because I know you, Sakura. I know the last part because that is what I always did with you, ever since you left. I also know that you blame yourself for your mother's death and your father's insanity, and now that we've killed him, you blame yourself for his death as well. I know that you punish yourself for things that were never your fault, for things you never did wrong, and that's why you accept your exile without a sound. And I know that if I don't stop you now, you'll die to save him because you think you deserve death… and because you love him more than your own life."

"Chiyo…" I began, tears streaming down my face. Her hands gently nudged mine, and I very hesitantly pulled them away from Gaara, cutting off the jutsu.

"I also know that despite everything I said, you're going to run before he can wake up so that he doesn't know that you never did anything wrong, because despite everything, you still blame yourself." Chiyo murmured, looking away from me and down at Gaara as she gave her life for him.

"Chiyo… I love you." I said honestly, ignoring the fact that everyone surrounded us. "You were the best great-grandmother anyone could ask for, and you raised me well… Thank you." I murmured, hugging her tightly. I knelt down beside her and she leaned into my embrace as she continued the jutsu. Finally, after several moments, her hands left his chest, and his chest gave a jerk as he inhaled, still unconscious. I let out a sob as I held my limp great-grandmothers body, carefully lowering her to the ground.

I stood up and was immediately hugged by Temari. I hugged her back, crying onto her shoulder for a moment. "I need to go…" I said, pulling away from her embrace and turning to leave.

"Just like that? Sakura, don't go… It's not right without you in our lives." Temari said in an almost begging tone.. All hostility was forgotten with Chiyo's revelation, but I still found myself unable to meet her eyes. I didn't want to see the pity or remorse.

"I need to. I'll come back when everything blows over." I muttered regretfully.

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked curiously, but I shook my head.

"Don't tell him anything… At least, not yet. Don't tell anyone that I was here. I'll tell him myself once I take care of a few things..." I said before I started to leave.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan." Naruto said before I got out of earshot. I waved over my shoulder, slowly limping into the forest where I planned to collapse and sleep for two days, recover my chakra, and then get back to my border town. Hatsuri, Miyuki's father, had probably cut off a hand or something without me around, I thought with amusement.

* * *

**Well, here's chapter 7. I hope you guys liked it more than you liked the last one. And I promise it won't be too long before Gaara finds out! =) Please review ^^**

**Also, I'm in a creative mood, so I'm going to try to name the chapters. Again, I appreciate any ideas.**


	8. Bounty Hunters

**Whoa! Here's chapter 8, people. I'm honestly not sure how long it's been since the last one, but I think it's been two days? I'm kind of hazy on everything right now because I've got this nasty virus that's making me so tired I'm sleeping for thirteen to eighteen hours a day! And it also is making my throat hurt terribly, feel like it's filled with ash, and every time I talk or breathe, I end up coughing like crazy. Fun, right? xD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. However, I do own TEMARI! *holds up poster of Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou.**

**I'm running out of posters! I have like eight of them... Someone asked how many I have, so I'm going to list them.**

**I have one of Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou.**

**I have one of Gaara alone.**

**I have one of Naruto and Sasuke.**

**I have one of Sasuke and Itachi.**

**I have one of Sasuke, Naruto, and a tiny Kakashi in the background.**

**I have ANOTHER one of Sasuke and Itachi... and I think that's all. I'd get one of Sakura, but they didn't have any good ones =( And I never really liked her costumes. Kishimoto really should make her better looking. Less flat chested, and prettier clothes xD**

* * *

"Idiot! I leave for two weeks and this is what I come back to?" I snapped at Hatsuri, who laid in a hospital bed with his leg broken – Again.

"Sorry. I fell." He explained with a sheepish grin.

"I told you to be careful!" I grumbled, putting my left hand on his leg, right over the break. My right hand was wrapped in strong bandages, binding the fingers so they would heal properly. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to heal his break, but it was incredibly slow compared to before. _Damn… I was using that jutsu for too long. My chakra is unbalanced._ I thought with a heavy sigh. I felt odd, like I was missing part of me. _I knew it. I was using the jutsu long enough that I gave part of my life to save him._ I concluded regretfully.

"Saki, why are you covered in wounds?" Hatsuri asked, his voice completely serious, which was rare for the laidback man. I had only just returned minutes ago, and because of my unbalanced chakra, I wasn't able to heal must of my wounds.

"It doesn't matter. It's over and done with, I'm alive and will recover, and so will you." I told him with a smile, and he sighed at me.

"Saki, I've practically been your father for over a year. You can trust me." He said, but I didn't reply. "You're healing isn't as good as before… Something pretty bad must have happened?" Hatsuri asked, and I gave a short nod. "I see… It must have caused at least some good, though."

"What makes you say that?" I asked curiously.

"You looked lighter… Happier." Hatsuri said, eyeing me up and down suspiciously. "Have you remembered anything?"

"Actually… Yes." I said after a moment of hesitation.

"Really?" Hatsuri asked in surprise, sitting up a bit. I hooked my ankle around a chair leg and pulled it up to his bedside, sitting down on it with my hand still on his leg, healing as I spoke.

"I met some people from my past… I'm sorry, but I won't name names, because it would put your life at risk." I said with a sigh, and he watched me curiously. "I used to be a medic-nin. I trained under a wonderful person who died during the time I was away. She was my great-grandmother, I discovered." I said with a small smile, and he smiled sadly at me. "She died to save someone who used to be in love with me. I don't know how, but I knew he was in danger. That's why I ran off without saying anything two weeks ago."

"I just… _needed_ to help him. So I went to him, and met up with some people from my past on the way. His brother and sister helped me save him, but… he was dead when we got to him." I teared up at this part, but continued on with a smile. "My great-grandmother and mentor was poisoned by the enemy we were fighting. I had made an antidote, but she had used it on me instead of saving herself."

"She knew she was about to die, so she decided to do one last good deed… and she brought him back to life, dying in his place." I said, smiling sadly as tears slipped from my eyes.

"Oh, Saki…" He said softly, grasping my knee comfortingly. Then, suddenly, he looked at me in confusion. "Wait, what is your actual name?"

"It doesn't matter. I only remembered that I once loved a man, and was trained by someone who I very recently learned was my great-grandmother. Nothing else. And besides, that isn't my life anymore. My life is here, and my name is Saki." I said with a smile. "And this impossibly clumsy and accident prone imbecile in front of me is my father." I said, and he smiled widely at me.

"That I am, Saki."

* * *

"No, no…" I chided Miyuki half a year later as she was healing shut a cut on my arm.

"What am I doing wrong?" Miyuki asked worriedly and I smiled at her.

"Your chakra is just a little too strong. You're healing too fast, and so it isn't healing right. If you do that, it'll leave scars." I informed her and she nodded, lowering her chakra amount a bit. "Perfect!" I cheered with a smile, and she grinned happily. A few moments later, the cut was gone, leaving no trace. I stood up and pat Miyuki on the head, and she bounced up and down happily. "Why don't you go tell your father that you just perfected the most difficult and powerful healing ability medic-nin's can do?"

"Yay!" Miyuki cheered happily, running to the doorway. I had been very surprised when I came back and was immediately attacked by Miyuki, begging me to train her. I was even more surprised when not only did her enthusiasm last for six months afterwards, but that in just that short time, she had managed to master the Mystical Palm Technique. From the very beginning I knew she had amazing chakra control, surpassing even my own. Not only that, but she must have the intellect of a genius at Shikamaru's level, as she learned extremely fast.

"Saki-sama…" Miyuki whimpered suddenly, and I looked to see her backing back into the house.

"What is it?" I asked in alarm, wrapping my arm around the scared girl.

"There are two men outside. They look really scary…" She whimpered in fear and I rubbed her arms gently. "They're wearing black and red, and one of them has a really scary weapon."

"I see…" I narrowed my eyes dangerously. _Black and red… Akatsuki._ I concluded, but it only caused more confusion. _Why are they here?_ "Miyuki, go out the back door. You need to go to every house you can. Tell everyone that they need to go to Sunagakure immediately and give this to them." I told her quietly, grabbing a scroll and quickly writing down on it.

'_Two bloodied crows in the sunset flew north.'_ Was all I wrote, writing in code just in case anyone but the Kazekage tried to read it. After all, you can't be too careful, and who knows how many other spies the Akatsuki has? "Tell the Sunagakure shinobi that it needs to go directly to the Kazekage and that it's a matter of great importance. Get everyone out of the town. I'll keep the men occupied so they can't stop you."

"But Saki-sama…" Miyuki began worriedly, but I gave her a little push towards the back exit.

"Go, Miyuki! The town needs their new healer to be with them." I said and pulled my yukata off. I was wearing my red camisole, red short shorts, and fishnets on my biceps. I ran out the door, grabbing my katana from the wall as I went.

"Look, Kakuzu. There she is." One of the men said, and I glared at them. The one who spoke was wearing his Akatsuki cloak, blonde hair combed back, and had a three-bladed scythe. He had spoke to a man also wearing an Akatsuki cloak, his face and hair hidden by a masked hood, and his eyes were the only visible part. They were pupiless, with his eyes green and the whites of his eyes were red instead, and he had no visible weapons.

"Yes, Hidan… I can tell." Kakuzu growled, looking at a book in his hand and then at me. "Definitely her." He said, closing the book and pocketing it. _What was that…? A black book?_ I wondered with a frown. _I suppose I could be in a black book. After all I'm one of the most powerful medic-nins and poison makers in the world, was ordered to assassinate a Kage even though I didn't even try to follow through, and I killed an S-Class Missing-nin who happened to also be in the Akatsuki._ I thought, narrowing my eyes at them.

"Why are you here?" I demanded coldly, and the blonde, Hidan, scoffed at me.

"Dead people aren't meant to talk." He said as though scolding a child.

"We'll have to remedy that." Kakuzu murmured and I immediately entered my fighting stance, drawing my katana. I held it in one hand, holding the sheath in the other.

"Let me handle this." Hidan growled, drawing his scythe. I gripped my katana tighter, watching the blonde carefully. I noticed that Kakuzu looked like he was silently fuming, but made no move when Hidan leapt at me.

_

* * *

_

I don't think I can do with for much longer…

I thought as I breathed heavily. I realized almost immediately that I was _way_ out of my league, and switched from offensive to pure evasion. _Come on, Miyuki…_ I thought as I leapt way from Hidan's blow once more. I had to have been doing it for at least twenty minutes, but I knew they would need at least another fifteen to get away. There were too many villagers for them to have all left already.

I jumped away from yet another strike, and was almost immediately swung at again. I leapt to a rooftop, stumbling slightly when I landed. _Shit. My chakra's fading fast with all this evasion._ I thought as I dodged yet another blow. "You bitch! Hold still and let me kill you!"

"Hitting her would be a good start." Kakuzu said dryly in response to his partner's screaming.

"Shut up, Kakuzu!" Hidan yelled, stopping in his swings and turning to glare at his partner. "I don't see you doing anything!" I jumped as far away from them as I could while still being in attacking range. _I can't leave yet. They'll kill anyone nearby. _I thought, narrowing my eyes as I panted heavily, sweat lining my skin. "And you!" Hidan whipped around to glare at me, pointing his scythe at me. "How did a weak bitch like you kill Sasori? All you do is run around! And an even better question! How did a cowardly little fucker like you get a twenty million bounty on your head?" He demanded, and I glared at him.

"What? You can't talk, you little pansy bitch? You better start talking soon, cause you're about to die!" Hidan growled before jumping at me. I swung my katana and it's scabbard up in an X, catching the middle blade and trapping it between the two. He pressed down with all his weight, and I felt the bottom blade digging into my abdomen. _Shit!_ I thought in alarm, jumping away and freeing his blade. Because of the weight he was putting on it, when I pulled away and freed it, the bottom blade slashed my abdomen downwards, cutting about a two inch long slice down it, and cut my shoulder a bit.

I watched as Hidan grinned, putting his foot on some of the blood drops and moving it to make a half circle in my blood before the blood ran out. "Damn… This sand is soaking it all up…" He grumbled unhappily before grinning at me. "Guess that just means I need to make you bleed twice as much!" He cackled, leaping at me again. With a wince, I jumped away, but he grabbed me by my ankle.

He threw me to the ground a few feet away, and I collided with it on my back, causing me to fight back a cry of pain and release my grip on the scabbard. Moving quickly, I rolled back to my feet and jumped away, leaving my weapon scabbard behind. I stumbled backwards when I landed, pressing my free hand to my heavily bleeding stomach wound. _He wants the blood for something… Whatever it is, I can't let him get it._ I decided, chakra surrounding my hand and wound, and quickly healed it closed.

_I don't have the chakra to risk doing this, but I can't let him have my blood for whatever it is he needs it for. _I thought with a wince as I jumped away from the loudly cursing Hidan. _How long has it been? Thirty minutes? Damn… My chakra still isn't completely balanced, even after all these months… I guess that's what happens when you give up a fraction of your life._ "Enough." Kakuzu suddenly growled, and I looked at him just in time to see the sharp black pole go through the part of my abdomen that my hand covered, pinning my hand to my re-injured gut.

I let out a cry of pain, falling to my knees. "What are you doing!" Hidan snarled, and I watched as they both jumped to the rooftop I was on, standing a few feet in front of me.

"You're taking too long." Kakuzu stated icily.

"So what? She's my kill!" Hidan shouted in Kakuzu's face.

"… I am going to kill you." He stated after a moment. I watched with wide eyes as he decapitated Hidan in one swift movement, his head rolling towards Kakuzu's feet.

"You bastard!" The head screamed, making my eyes widen further. _Shit, shit, shit… I'm screwed. I'm going to die if I stay here!_ I thought in a panic. _I won't leave until I know they escaped… Come on, Miyuki…_ I thought, looking to the sky. My breaths were heavy and labored, my body caked in sweat and drying blood. I tuned out their arguing, staring intently at the sky. Finally, I saw a white dove fly across the sky, which was the signal that they were safe. _Yes!_ I cheered in my mind as I suppressed groans of pain, quietly pulling my hand off the pole that impaled it. Once free, I made quick hand signs.

"What are you-" Hidan was cut off by thousands of cherry blossoms suddenly filling the sky.

"A sight blocker…" Kakuzu growled as I leapt to my feet and ran as fast and far as I could. As I ran, I took a small paper from my pocket and used the blood dripping down my fingers from the hole in my hand to write.

"_Gaara_

_Their names were Kakuzu and Hidan. I don't know much about their attacks, but Hidan uses a scythe and tried to do something with my blood. Also, I saw Kakuzu get annoyed and he decapitated Hidan, who continued to live even after. Not sure what that means, but it's nothing good. I've been badly wounded and won't make it without help. Give Temari my love… and be careful._

_Sakura"_

I reached the last house in the village and stopped, leaning against the wall. I used a chakra covered finger to dig a small gap in the wall, sliding the note into it, and tore the black pole out of my gut. Tossing it to the ground at my feet, which had a puddle of blood on it already, I raced forward and into the desert and hoped I would find the help I needed to survive.

* * *

**Okay, so while I wrote this, a thought occured to me. A, I'm just going to say that they were passing the border on their way to kill Asuma's old buddy and heard about the pink haired medic and decided to check it out for the extra cash. B, Since Sakura dissapeared and they didn't know where she went. Hidan didn't bother with doing the ritual with her blood and killing her even though she was long gone. After all, what would be the point if they couldn't find her body and bring it to a bounty collector? That's my thought process on the matter xD**

**Please review! ^^**


	9. Death?

**So here's chapter 9! I was messing around with the new story I'm writing when I realized it'd been like two or three days since I last posted, and was like 'OH crap!' xD So I rushed to and got this chapter up as quickly as I could. I'm still sick, and I'm starting to think I don't have what I originally thought, cuase it was only supposed to last five days and it's been eight, I think. And it's only getting worse. Eugh... I really hope I don't have Strep Throat. The medicine you take for that is soooo nasteh! D:**

**Anyways, I don't own Naruto... But I do own... A really creepy bunny rabbit stuffed animal that has the face of a baby.**

**Creepy, right?**

* * *

Temari was pulling guard duty when around a hundred tired, hungry, and thirsty people approached the hidden village. Alarmed by the numbers alone, Temari ordered someone to take her spot and went to meet them. "What happened?" She asked the man who lead the group, and he was holding the hand of a child who was hugging a small scroll to her chest.

"Our home was attacked. We come here seeking assistance." The man said with a bow, his daughter and the other villagers following suit. The man straightened up, looking Temari straight in the eyes, his swimming with tears. "Please, you must help. My daughter stayed behind to hold back the attackers so we could escape. Please." He begged and Temari eyed him.

"…You and your daughter can come with me. The rest of you, stay in the shadowed areas around the gates. My shinobi will bring you food and water while I take you two to speak with the Kazekage." Temari said with authority, and several guards immediately ran to get food and drink for the villagers.

"Thank you." The man said gratefully, lifting his daughter up into his arms.

"Come with me." Temari said, turning and running into Sunagakure. It took ten minutes because the man was a regular person, but she took him to Gaara's office and immediately knocked.

"Enter." Gaara called quietly, and Temari opened the doors. She walked in, the man following. "What's going on?" Gaara asked his elder sister as the man set his daughter down.

"Their village was attacked. I had the other villagers stay just outside the gates while some of the guards bring food and water to them…" Temari explained, trailing off when the young girl walked up to Gaara's desk. She stood on her toes and raised the letter up towards the Kage.

"Miyuki…" The man hissed, looking at Gaara apologetically. Frowning, Gaara took the letter delicately, and the girl went back to her father's side. Gaara opened the letter and scanned it quickly before narrowing his eyes.

"Temari… Gather a group of shinobi immediately." He said and Temari blinked at him in confusion. "It's the Akatsuki." He said and realization dawned. She nodded, immediately leaving the room. "You two stay… Tell me everything you know about these attackers and how you escaped."

"Well…" The man, Hatsuri, began hesitantly. "Two men came into the village wearing black cloaks with red clouds on it. One of them had really strange skin and green eyes with red instead of white surrounding it, and he wore a mask around his face, completely covering everything but his eyes. The other one wore his cloak oddly, with it open in the front, and he had a three bladed scythe as a weapon…" Hatsuri sighed heavily.

"My daughter, Miyuki, was the first person to see them. She was with Saki, my adoptive daughter and the villages healer, and warned her about them. Saki told Miyuki here to give you that letter, and had her gather everyone she could and leave while she fought them." Hatsuri explained, but Gaara opened his mouth, making him stop.

"Who is Saki?" He demanded seriously, and Hatsuri blinked.

"I don't understand."

"Saki is who wrote this letter to me, yes?" Gaara asked coolly and Miyuki nodded furiously. "Saki addressed it to me calling me a friend, yet I have never met a 'Saki' before."

"Well… Saki isn't her real name…" Hatsuri said hesitantly. Seeing Gaara's expectant expression, he continued. "I found her in the desert a year and a half ago. It was in the middle of the night, and she was near dead from the cold on top of a pretty bad head wound. She also had two fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder, and the head injury was so bad it covered the whole right side of her face with blood." Hatsuri said with a heavy sigh. "I swear, it took weeks for her hair to go back to pink." At this, Gaara leaned forward with more interest, but Hatsuri didn't notice.

"I took her to my home and my daughter and I nursed her back to health. When she woke up, she didn't know who she was. We gave her a month to remember before we named her 'Saki'. It was better than her being nameless… She healed someone who was badly hurt, and didn't even know how, but I recognized it as a medic-nin's jutsu. From then, she became our town healer."

"About six months ago, she freaked out and ran off without saying anything to us. When she came back two weeks later, she was cut up badly, her hand shattered, and looked half dead. She couldn't heal herself, and could barely heal anyone else for a while. Even after she was able to heal again, she looks ill all the time and can't heal most wounds anymore. Please, you have to help her. She isn't as strong as before…" Hatsuri explained, trailing off when Gaara spoke.

"Describe this person to me. What does she look like?" He asked and Hatsuri frowned.

"She has long pink hair that she keeps in a pony tail, bright green eyes, skin that is slightly tanned…"

"Does she have a large tattoo on her back?" Gaara demanded and Hatsuri blinked at him.

"Yes… She does… How did you-"

"I knew because I used to know her very well." Gaara said, standing up. "Tell me… How was she fighting? Was she being overpowered, or was she winning?"

"She wasn't even fighting." Miyuki piped up, and both of them looked at her. "She just kept running away from them and dodging the attacks… Only one of them was even attacking her. The one with the scary weapon." Miyuki explained with a concentrated expression. "But she was getting tired really fast. She's been really sick lately… I asked her why, but she wouldn't tell me anything." Miyuki said tearily, looking worried.

"Don't worry, little girl." Gaara said calmly, and Miyuki looked up at him. "I'm sending a team to your village and I'm leading it myself." He said before walking past them and out of his office.

* * *

The hour long trip took only ten minutes with Gaara flying the group of four there on his sand. The group consisted of Gaara, Baki, Temari, and Kankurou. However, when they arrived, the town was completely empty. "Baki, you are the fastest. Circle the town from two miles out and see if they are completely gone, or if we can catch up." Gaara ordered and his old sensei nodded, immediately turning around and leaping over the town's gate. "You two spread out and search the town for any signs of her." Gaara growled before he leapt up onto the rooftops and scanned the town.

It took him a moment, but he finally spotted a small pool of blood several rooftops away. He quickly jumped to it and knelt down beside the blood, narrowing his eyes. He touched it with his fingertips and pulled them away, staring at the blood on his fingers. _Fresh. _He concluded, eyeing the drops of blood leading away from the puddle. He stood up, brushing his fingers off on the roof and then following the trail. Once the trail left the rooftop, it became very spread out and hard to follow, but he managed.

He stopped when it led him to another small pool of blood with a sharp black pole lying in it. _She must be badly injured to bleed so much…_ He thought, turning to call for his siblings when something caught his eye. He frowned deeply, grasping the small folded up piece of paper and pulling it out of the crack in the wall. He narrowed his eyes, unfolding the letter.

"_Gaara_

_Their names were Kakuzu and Hidan. I don't know much about their attacks, but Hidan uses a scythe and tried to do something with my blood. Also, I saw Kakuzu get annoyed and he decapitated Hidan, who continued to live even after. Not sure what that means, but it's nothing good. I've been badly wounded and won't make it without help. Give Temari my love… and be careful._

_Sakura"_

_What?_ Was his first thought. He wasn't sure what to make of anything she wrote. Why did he want her blood? Why would his partner cut his head off, and why would he still be alive afterward? Not only that, but why did she not only tell him to give Temari her love, when Temari hated her, and why was she telling him to be careful if she was trying to kill him before? None of it made sense. But the thing that most concerned him…

…Was the fact that he was terrified for her.

* * *

"Kazekage-sama…" Baki began hesitantly as the four of them regrouped in the center of town, the buildings and ground having several three-stab pattern marks everywhere, probably from where the scythe wielder continually missed Sakura.

"What is it?" Gaara asked coolly, and he sighed.

"Judging by the amount of blood loss, she's probably already dead." He began regretfully, and Gaara snapped his gaze to him. "Even if she isn't, she's too far from any town to get the help she needs…and the wind is picking up very fast. You know what that means."

"…I hate to say it, but he's right." Kankurou sighed heavily. "Even if she managed to survive, a sandstorm is about to hit, and she's out there alone. If she's not dead now, she will be soon. I'm sorry."

"…" Gaara said nothing, his fists clenched at his sides for several moments as the wind picked up to dangerous speeds. Finally, after several seconds, he turned and walked into the house a few feet away, sitting down inside of it. Baki and Kankurou exchanged glances before following, and Temari hesitated a moment. She looked up at the sky before following them into the house.

"I need to talk to you guys." She said, gaining all of their attention. "To get to the point… Sakura wasn't planning on killing you, Gaara."

"…I don't understand." Gaara stated after a moment.

"She was ordered by our father to get close to you and kill you. You already know this… What you don't know is that he forced her to do it. Do you remember how resigned she was whenever our father was around, and how she would be happier when he wasn't?" Kankurou nodded after a moment of thought, so Temari continued, looking directly at Gaara this time. "And surely you remember how happy she was when he died. She acted as though she just had a giant weight removed from her soul."

"That was because she was relieved she wouldn't have to kill you." Temari went on when Gaara frowned and nodded. "You see, she thought of Kankurou and I as family, and it didn't take long after our father died for her to think of you the same, and then as more than just that. She helped you become the Kazekage, but the whole time she hated herself because of the fact that she only ever got close to us so she could kill you."

"So when you found out and thought she was still trying to kill you, she felt like she deserved your punishment. That's why she never resisted it and just left without saying anything. She told me that she walked through the desert for as long as her legs would carry her, but she ended up tripping and didn't even try to get back up. She probably would have died if her adoptive father hadn't found her." Temari said, sighing heavily.

"She stayed in this village with her new family, but… None of us knew this, Gaara, and I tried to kill her when I found out, but she slipped some kind of herb into your drink once… and it let her feel your chakra from wherever she was. She wanted to be close enough to come to your aide if anything happened, so she stayed here, only a half hour away if you're a trained shinobi… So when you were captured by the Akatsuki, she immediately came running. She found Kankurou dying from poison and got rid of it before chasing after you."

"Wait, what?" Kankurou asked in confusion. "That was real? I thought I was hallucinating or dreaming when I saw her. Chiyo-baasama said that she was the one who cured me of poison…" Kankurou trailed off with a deep frown.

"She lied to protect Sakura. She didn't want anyone to know that she was in the Land of Wind, and right outside of Suna no less, seeing as she was exiled. Anyways, Shikamaru, Naruto, Kakashi and I ran into her on the way to you, Gaara. I attacked her immediately, but she said she would lead us to you. Kakashi decided to follow her, since we had backup from Suna right behind us if she tried to trap us."

"She ended up collapsing from sheer agony when they… when they started to remove Shukaku." Temari hesitated for a brief moment when Gaara's eyes widened. "Because they were destroying your chakra, she felt it all. I guess the herb lets her feel your chakra instead of sense it… Anyways, on the second day of this, the five of us, now with Chiyo-baasama, left to scout the area and Naruto kept a shadow clone with her."

"But while we were gone, she got irritated and hit the clone, making it disappear. We didn't think anything of it, and at the time we didn't really care if she left because we still thought she was a traitor… But when we saw the dust and smoke from her super strength jutsu's, we rushed back to find the whole place covered in poison. When the poison cleared, we managed to get to her. She was cut to ribbons, and Yuri had lain several feet away in a puddle of his own blood, dressed in Akatsuki garb."

"On the last day, she was able to move almost completely on her own because there was so little chakra left that was being destroyed, but it was still bad enough that Kakashi needed to help her. In the end, she completely freaked the hell out when the pain disappeared because I guess she couldn't feel you anymore. She punched right through a ten ton boulder to get to you." Temari explained. "All of us went after you are that explosives bastard while she and Chiyo-baasama stayed behind and took care of Sasori… Who, by the way, we discovered was her father. And apparently that's why Chiyo-baasama took her in."

"They killed him and rushed to where we all were with your… With you." Temari coughed slightly, unable to say 'corpse'. "and she literally just stood there, staring at you, and crying her eyes out for an entire minute before she put her hands on your chest. One of which was all black and gnarly looking." Temari added with a hint of distaste in her tone. "Anyways, her hands started to glow and Chiyo-baasama immediately started to beg her to stop. She sat down on your other side and put her hands on your chest where Sakura's weren't and started to do the same thing as her."

"None of us had any idea what was going on until Chiyo-baasama told her that since she was already dying, it should be her who died to bring you back. She explained to us all that Sakura was innocent, and told us everything I just told you. Sakura continued to cry and stopped using the tensei jutsu, then walked around you and sat beside Chiyo-baasama, hugging her as she died."

"Afterwards," Temari took a deep breath, looking sad as she spoke. "Afterwards, she got up and started to leave. She asked us not to tell you anything yet… But she looked like hell when she left. When I say that, I mean she looked like hell chewed on her and spat her back out, not liking the taste. I honestly was surprised to hear she was alive…" Temari trailed off at that last part, hanging her head. Gaara stared at his sister, his eyes wide.

"She tried to give her own life for mine?" He murmured to himself before standing up. Without another word, he walked out of the building, using his sand manipulation to move the sand in the air away from him. He leapt up onto one of the rooftops, staring out at the sky that he could barely make out through the sand in the air. And as the air blew, a single teardrop hit the rooftop… followed by another, and then another.

* * *

**D: Maybe that seemed a little ooc of Gaara, but I'm going to point this one fact out. He cried when he realized he would have to fight and kill Sasuke, and he barely even knew him. Remember that scene at the Kage meeting? So it makes sense that he would cry for someone he loves when he thinks she just got killed.**

**So now he knows she isn't evil! And guess what! They are going to have a chat soon. Either next chapter of the one after that ^^ Please review!**


	10. Alive

**Wahoo! I'm finally getting better! Ten days of coughing up lungs at every breath, but finally I'm only coughing at every _other_ breath! :D It's a miracle! Speaking of miracles, our little Sakura got pretty darn lucky, if I do say so myself. Here's chapter 10 =)**

**I do not own Naruto. But I do own about twenty little tiny dragons made of seed beads in different colors that I made myself =) Anyone else into beading?**

* * *

"Shit…" I hissed as I slowly came to.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake." A female voice said in relief, and I blinked rapidly to clear the haze that filled my eyes.

"What happened?" I asked with a groan, looking at the golden haired woman who knelt beside me. She looked to be in her early forties, and wore a kind expression.

"I'm not sure, ma'am. All I know is that a sand storm came when I was near here. I rushed to shelter and when I came into this cave, I found you barely breathing on the ground. I don't have much medical experience beyond patching up my son whenever he got hurt, but you're alive…" She trailed off when I put my bandaged hand onto my abdomen, which hurt like hell.

"I need something out of my bag…Is it here?" I asked her with a wince, and she nodded. She disappeared from my sight for a moment, and then returned and I heard her set something heavy down beside her. "In the front left pocket there's a black pouch…" I heard her fumbling around.

"Got it." She said, waiting further instructions.

"Pull out three of the small pills in it and put them in my mouth, please." I said and she did as I asked, putting the pouch back. I swallowed the pills after chewing them and then closed my eyes, pushing chakra out of my injured hand and having it surround both the hand and the wound in my gut.

"You're…" I heard the woman gasp. "You're a medic-nin?"

"Yeah." I murmured tiredly. _Damn. I've barely used any chakra. Even after three soldier pills, I'm exhausted… At this rate..._ I pulled my hand away with a sigh.

"Are you done healing already?" The woman asked curiously and I shook my head.

"No… I was only able to remove the infection that was setting in and stop it completely from bleeding. I'm still badly hurt… How long have I been unconscious?" I asked, opening my eyes to meet hers.

"Two days. The sandstorm only just let up an hour or so ago... I was trying to wake you up so I could help you to a nearby village and get you treated." The woman explained and I shook my head. "No?" She questioned, confused.

"That town was attacked… Everyone got away, but I was hurt in the process." I explained tiredly.

"Oh… Well… There's a town about two miles away in the opposite direction. I need to get you there before you get any worse." She said, looking determined now.

"All right… But I'm exhausted. I don't think I can walk right now." I warned her, and she nodded.

"It's alright. I'm no shinobi, but I think I can get you there…" She looked hesitant for a moment, and I just nodded. I tiredly held my arm out to her, and she turned on her knees so I could put it over her shoulders. She grasped the wrist of my right arm that was draped over her, then wrapped her free arm around my waist. I let out a small groan when her arm hit my wound, which went through my chest and out my back. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." I murmured as she pretty much lifted me to my feet. I saw how much it strained her to do that, so I smiled at her. "I'll do my best not to fall over too much." I said with a teasing wink, and she laughed lightly.

"By the way, my name is Mivara." The woman introduced herself, and I nodded.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mivara. I'm Saki."

* * *

"_Why did you do that?" Gaara asked me almost three years ago. I was putting on my shinobi sandals, sitting on the edge of a Konoha hospital bed._

_"Does it matter?" I asked him, frowning lightly._

_"Can't you just answer me?" Gaara growled in frustration, and I sighed. "You shouldn't have been hurt."_

_"Gaara." I began, and he watched me carefully. "I knew the risks. I knew that you were going after the toughest person because you are the strongest. I knew that, and I followed you anyways. You didn't even have to ask me. Hell, if you told me not to, I still would have. I knew I could get hurt, and I was willing to if it meant the mission's success because that's what shinobi do…And I was willing to get hurt if it meant protecting you." I added that last part after a moment's hesitation._

_"…Why?" Gaara asked a few seconds later, frowning._

_"Because…" I trailed off with a heavy sigh. "Because I love you more than as a friend, Gaara." I admitting after a moment. He was silent, so I continued on. "I hadn't really realized it until we had split up to help them. I had to follow you. I couldn't _not_ go with you, Gaara. It terrified me so much…" I trailed off, tears filling my eyes at the memory. I looked down at my hands, and suddenly the bed dipped down beside me. I looked up to see him sitting next to me, looking up ahead of us._

"_Sakura… When I saw him hit you so hard you went through my sand, I thought he had crushed your chest. I didn't think you were alive." He admitted after several moment, and I frowned. "He nearly did… But I was angry. I got careless at the end. He almost killed me… If he had lived a split second longer, I would be dead…" Gaara paused and I watched him with wide eyes. "I think that I felt that way because…" He looked at me and I was surprised by the calm and peaceful expression he wore. "because I feel the same way about you."_

_"You… love me?" I murmured softly in shock, and he nodded. Before he could open his mouth to confirm, I had thrown my arms around him, hugging him tightly. I smiled so wide I thought my face would split when he hugged me back._

_

* * *

_

"What are you? Stupid?" I asked Gaara the morning just after we had returned to Sunagakure after he startled me awake, making me try to stab him in the face with a kunai. Luckily he had Shukaku to automatically protect him... Gaara turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

_"That's no way to talk to your boyfriend." He said and I laughed as Kankurou choked on his toast._

"_Oh yeah? And just how is this boyfriend going to stop his girlfriend from talking to him like that?" I asked him teasingly as Kankurou coughed furiously to clear his throat. I felt sand wrap around my chest and abdomen, lifting me into the air. I let out a laugh as Gaara moved me gently outside with his sand, following chase on a cloud of sand. We ended up spending the entire morning playing in the sky, with Gaara using his sand to create a moving obstacle course to chase me on._

"Ah… Good morning, Saki." Mivara said with a smile when I opened my eyes to find myself in a hospital bed.

"Morning." I replied in a tired voice.

"How are you feeling?" She asked in a worried tone.

"I feel great, actually…" I frowned in confusion as I sat up, feeling barely any pain. "Why have I healed so much?"

"Er… Well…" Mivara hesitated before sighing. "You had some internal bleeding. They had to do surgery to stop it. Also, they were worried about nerve damage to your spine because of how close the wound was to it, so they had to go in and make sure everything was okay. Which it was." She added quickly and I nodded. "But when they woke you up after all the surgery, you reopened your wounds so they put you in a medicine induced come until you were healed. It's been a month."

"A month!" I exclaimed and she nodded, looking worriedly at me. "Oh my god! I have to get out of here." I shouted, throwing my blankets off. I stood up and immediately swayed because I hadn't used my legs in a month, but I quickly regained my balance and started to leave.

"Saki, please. You need to rest." Mivara said in a worried tone.

"You don't understand, Mivara." I whipped around, and she frowned at my panicked expression. "My father and baby sister were in that town. What if they didn't get away in time? If they did, they must think I'm dead!"

"…All right… But before you go, you're a shinobi, right?" She asked and I nodded. "Then you need to know something…" She took a deep breath, motioning for me to sit down. I sat on the bed and she began to talk. "Konohagakure was attacked by the Akatsuki and destroyed." My breath caught. _What? Konoha was destroyed? What about Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kakashi? Oh god, Temari must be heartbroken._ I thought, remembering how close she and Shikamaru were when I last saw them.

"They killed all the attackers, and apparently everyone survived the attack." _Oh thank god._ "But the Kage's are growing antsy now. They called a meeting of all the Kage's, but won't even hint at where. In fact, I only just found out today, and apparently the Kazekage left yesterday. I thought you would want to know that because you're a shinobi…"

"Thank you, Mivara, but now I really must go." I said, narrowing my eyes with determination now. I would have to send Hatsuri a letter telling him I was alive and go after Gaara. I hated him being far away from me, which is why I had lived so close to Suna. Every time he went on missions, I would go as well, but stay at least a half hour away at all times so there was no risk of him catching me.

"All right… But be careful. Please." She murmured and I nodded.

"I will be. I promise." I said as I turned to leave. "I'll try to keep in touch, all right?"

"Thank you." Mivara smiled kindly at me, but her smile was also worried. I hesitated before hugging her.

"Don't worry, Mivara. I wouldn't be careless after everything you went through to keep my careless ass alive." I said with a laugh and she chuckled softly, hugging me tightly. "I need to go up onto the roof before I leave. Would you join me?" I asked as we broke the hug, offering her my arm. She laughed lightly and took it, and so we went up to the roof.

"Why do we need to be up here?" Mivara asked curiously when I walked to the edge of the roof and took out a scroll.

"I need to send a message to my father and sister, letting them know I'm okay." I explained as I started to write on the scroll.

"How are you going to get it to them?" She asked and I smiled softly.

"I'll have my summon take it to them." Mivara fell silent, letting me write the letter.

"_Dear Hatsuri and Miyuki,_

_This is Saki. I would have sent you a letter earlier, but I was badly hurt in the fight and couldn't. I'm sorry… But I'm alive and fully healed, I promise, and I wrote this the second I woke up. Don't let it alarm you, but I have been in a drug induced coma because of how bad my injuries were. The point is, I'm alive, and I'm completely okay now, all right? Focus on that. How have you guys been doing? I hope Miyuki has been doing a good job as the town's medic. Tell her that her Onee-chan is proud of her._

_I heard about Konohagakure, father. It terrified me to think that the Akatsuki had such power… But I don't know if those two Akatsuki men are still after me. I'm following the Kazekage to the meeting so I can find out more. If I can't sneak in, then I'll confront him afterwards and speak with him for the information I need. I'll be careful, and I miss you both immensely. For the moment I'm not returning. I don't know when I will, but I will write to you the moment I know more._

_Be careful, would you? And if anyone wearing the black and red cloaks come, don't try to be a hero. Run for your lives, please. I can't lose you two._

_Saki"_

I rolled up the scroll and sealed it before making a number of hand signs. Activating the tattoo on my back, a puff of smoke appeared before me and Mivara, causing the middle aged woman to gasp in surprise. As the fog faded, a tiger cub sitting in front of me, a Sunagakure hitai-ate around its neck. The cub tilted its head at me and I smiled. "Torri… I need you to take this to a town about four miles east of here. Take it to Hatsuri directly, okay? Not Miyuki." I instructed the tiger, who's tail twitched. The cub stood up and I offered it the scroll. It delicately grabbed it in its jaws and nodded at me before leaping off the edge off the hospital building and onto the roof of one nearby. I turned to the awestruck Mivara and hugged the woman tightly.

"Be safe, Saki. I know it's strange, but I feel close to you. It would hurt me if you were injured or killed." She whispered the last part and I smiled at her.

"I feel the same way, Mivara. I will return to the town that was attacked once in about two weeks, okay? I'll send you a letter to let you know I'm safe." I promised and she nodded.

"If you don't send me a letter in two weeks, I'm going to that town of yours and breaking down your door." She warned and I laughed.

"All right. Well, in that case, I'm going to have to change my plans about blowing you off." I teased, winking at her playfully. She rolled her eyes and gave me a nudge towards the roof top edge.

"Go do shinobi business. I'll wait for that letter." Mivara said sternly and I nodded before jumping away.

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**Hope you liked it. I'm headed to bed now *yawn* Next chapter will be up in 2-3 days.**

**Please review! =)**


	11. Land of Iron

**Here's chapter 11! Sorry I'm late with it! I was hugely busy with a bunch of stuff and I honestly forgot D:**

**Disclaimer : I own nothing! Except an extreme dislike towards my dropout brother!**

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I was fifteen years old, Gaara being fourteen, when I woke up on my stomach in his bed to find him tracing his fingers along my back. "What is this?" He questioned when he saw my eyes were open. I frowned into my pillow.

"_It's a summoning tattoo…" I explained after a moment of relishing in the fact that I had woken up in the same bed as Gaara, both of us naked._

"_For what?" He asked curiously._

_"About two months before I met you I made a pact with shinobi tigers." I said with a small yawn._

_"Hm…" Gaara hummed thoughtfully, and I closed my eyes as he traced the symbols on my back with his fingertips. His touch soothed me back to sleep, and I woke up an hour later with a smile still on my face._

"God _damn_ it is cold out." I hissed softly under my breath as I ran silently through the icy wasteland that I was tracking Gaara through. He had several hours of a head start, and with my chakra acting all out of whack, it was harder for me to catch up than it would have been. Not to mention I had no idea he was going _this_ far north, so I was freezing my ass off in desert attire. With my chakra misbehaving, I couldn't use that to heat myself up, so I was stuck freezing to half death until I reached where he was. Luckily he had stopped moving much, which made it easier on me. At least I wasn't still trying to go faster than him so I could catch up.

_Damn. Spoke too soon._ I thought when I felt his chakra spike and start moving. He was staying in the same immediate area, but I could tell from his chakra's fluctuations that he was fighting. Immediately I began to panic, forcing myself to calm down. _This happens every time he fights, Sakura. You freak out, then he comes out okay, and you're fine… Except the last time._ I winced at the memory, pushing myself faster. _Besides…_ I thought, narrowing my eyes as I dashed full speed towards Gaara. _He's barely using any chakra. He's in no danger._ I tried to convince myself, but I was still worried.

I ran as fast as I could towards him, and felt a small amount of relief when I saw the building in the near distance. Without even thinking, I leapt down into the hole in the roof of the building the second I reached it. For a moment, I thought about the last time I had seen Gaara, his face calm with eternal sleep, and I felt terror grip me. But then I landed and heard Gaara's voice from several yards away, and I instantly relaxed. _God, I've become such a pansy._ I thought as I narrowed my eyes.

"We have walked through the darkness of this world… That's why we are able to see even a sliver of light. Both back then, and even now." Gaara said in a serious tone and I noticed I had landed just out of their sight.

"I have long since closed my eyes. My only goal is in the darkness." I very vaguely recognized the dark toned voice.

"Don't make this personal. You're the Kazekage." Kankurou's voice stated sternly.

"…Gaara…" Temari murmured in a similar tone, and I heard something moving.

"Yeah… I know." Gaara said coolly, and I heard more noise that I immediately recognized as his sand. I stood up from my kneeling position and turned towards where the voices were, only to freeze when I saw someone pinned to the wall a few feet away by a blade that was coursing with electricity.

"I can't believe I had to defend myself with Amateratsu… I see you're absolute defense is still alive and well, even if you weren't not too long ago." The voice chuckled darkly, and I narrowed my eyes. Just as I had begun to move to get around the pillar, I saw that Kankurou, Gaara, Temari, and some other shinobi I didn't recognize had attacked as well. The attacks combined, creating a massive explosion surrounded the person. When the dust cleared, I frown at the sight of a massive skeleton surrounding the person.

"Gaara… My defense is even more absolute than yours." The man chuckled. Seeing him now, I was surprised to recognize him as none other than Sasuke. At that moment, I realized that no one seemed to have noticed my presence.

"Is this… The power of your darkness?" Gaara mused with narrowed eyes, and Sasuke smirked at him.

"Only those with the double mangekyo Sharingan can use this, the third power… Susanoo." He said almost proudly.

"Susanoo?" Gaara murmured questioningly.

"Tch. Uchiha… He's always hiding something…" Kankurou scoffed as he glared at the man.

"Darui! Sand shinobi! Retreat!" A Kumogakure shinobi suddenly shouted, and my eyes widened as the skeletal figure started to destroy the pillars. _The pillars? Shit! He's-_ My thoughts were cut off by the ceiling collapsing completely on top of everyone. I immediately ran over to where Gaara and his siblings, along with one of the Kumo shinobi's, and saw that Gaara was summoning sand above them. I swiftly leapt on top of the sand, knowing that Gaara was immediately alerted to the fact that someone was on top of it, and slammed my fists into the falling chunks of rock.

I hit boulder after boulder for about twenty seconds before we were completely surrounded by pebbles and dust. I had a couple of scratches on my hands, but was otherwise unharmed. I felt the sand starting to dissipate, so I quickly jumped off of it, but landed in front of them instead of going to hide once more. "Are you guys okay?" I asked them worriedly, but was immediately slammed into by Temari.

"Sakura!" She exclaimed, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back, but my attention was completely focused on the person behind her. My green eyes focused on his turquoise blue ones, and I was stunned to see relief and happiness in them as they stared at me. Temari broke away from the hug and followed my gaze to Gaara, smiling slightly. My eyes drifted away from him and towards Kankurou, who looked different than the last time I saw him, but they finally settled on the puppet behind him.

I frowned at the puppet, then immediately froze when I recognized it. _Sasori's puppet body…_ I realized with shock and horror. I never cared for my so-called father, but it still horrified me to see his body being used like that. I forced my gaze away from it and turned around to see the Raikage and his Kumogakure shinobi waiting for us. "This meeting is about the Akatsuki hunting the Jinchuuriki." I stated with a hint of a question, and Temari nodded. "I see. Excuse me, then." I walked away from them and was about to jump out of the large hole in the roof when Gaara's voice stopped me. I glanced at him and saw his silent request, and nodded.

"I saw Kakashi when I was running here. I'll be there." I stated before jumping out of the hole.

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"Sakura?" Kakashi blinked in surprise when I jumped onto the roof of the hut where Naruto was sitting. I had landed just behind Naruto, immediately putting my elbows on his shoulders and resting my chin on my hands, leaning completely against him. Naruto looking up at me and I grinned.

"Hey there, blondie." I said teasingly to him and Naruto frowned deeply. "Oh shit. What happened?" I asked, switching to a completely serious tone instantly, standing up right and looking at him with a frown.

"Er… Who are you?" I looked over to see an unfamiliar man standing there.

"Sakura… This is Yamato, the team leader of Naruto's group when I'm busy." Kakashi explained and I gave him a short wave.

"Heya. I'm Saki." I said cheerily. "Ex-Sunagakure Shinobi and current Exilee."

"Never thought I hear anyone say that so happily." Yamato said with a frown.

"Probably because most people don't say 'Well fuck that' and continue giving a helping hand anyways." I said with a shrug, and he frowned deeper.

"Why are you here, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a frown and I turned on my heel to face him.

"Long story, really. Did you hear that Akatsuki attacked me and totally kicked my ass?" I asked him curiously and he shook his head.

"Why was Akatsuki after you?" He asked with a scowl, my words making him hate the organization even more.

"Apparently I have like a twenty million bounty on my head." I said with a sigh, then held up my hands helplessly. "I guess that's what happens when you get ordered to assassinate your own Kage. Anyways, when I woke up from my coma a _month_ later, I heard about Konoha. Naturally, I flipped. Then I was informed that there was a Kage meeting. So, naturally, I followed Gaara, but I had no idea where the hell he was going, so that's why I'm dressed like this." I pointed to the thin yukata I wore. "Speaking of, do you think we could have this talk inside? I'm damn near hypothermic."

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the hut as close to the fire as I could be without getting burned. "Sakura, if you're a medic-nin, why don't you just use your chakra to keep yourself warm?" Kakashi pointed out and I frowned at him.

"Because I can't." I stated calmly.

"Why can't you?" Yamato butted in curiously.

"Because I can't use chakra properly anymore. I could barely even break a few rocks not to long ago." I said as though I was talking about the snow being cold. "Anyways," I continued before anyone could ask any more questions, "I ran into Gaara and he told me he wanted to speak with me when everything was over. I told him I saw you, Kakashi, while I was chasing him, and that I would be here when he was done." I said, answering his earlier question. "Which brings up _my_ question. Why are _you_ all here?" I asked curiously.

"We… tried and failed at convincing the Raikage to stop going after Sasuke." Kakashi said after a moment, and I saw Naruto's fists clench in anger and sadness.

"I… don't understand." I admitted reluctantly. "Why is he going after Sasuke?"

"It's because Sasuke's joined the Akatsuki." Yamato said with a sigh, and I glanced at Naruto to see the anger and sadness clear on his face.

"Hey, Naruto?" I chirped to get his attention. He blinked at me questioningly. "I'm still freezing, see?" I held up my shivering hand for demonstration. "Could you do me a favor and get some more wood for the fire? I would do it myself, but it would take me a while without any chakra." I grumbled unhappily and Naruto nodded.

"Sure, Sakura-chan." He said and got up to leave, shooting me a grateful look before leaving.

"Don't." I said calmly as Yamato started to make a hand sign. He looked at me questioningly. "He'll be fine. Besides, I have something watching him right now. If anything happens, I'll know." I said, lightly tapping my temple with a smile.

"You do?" Kakashi frowned and I nodded.

"Why haven't I sensed anything?" Yamato asked with a deep frown.

"It would ruin it if it could be sensed, wouldn't it?" I raised my eyebrows at him and he frowned, nodding in acceptance. _Well if that wasn't the most bullshit lie I've ever told, I don't know what is. Oh well... Naruto isn't protected, but at least he can be alone for a little while_. "Anyways, now that he's gone, could you please tell me what in the fuck happened while I was unconscious?"

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**Here ya are! Hope you enjoyed it! Please review =)**


	12. Explanations

**Here's Chapter 12! Man... I would have gotten it up yesterday, but I was helping my dad plan a trip to visit his parents. My aunt was informed that she was being sent to Afghanistan, so she's getting twenty-one days of leave to visit her family. So we're going to visit my grandparents while she is to see her off.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. However, I do own volumes 2-9, 13-15, 17, 19, 22, and 28-29 of Naruto manga. The book store really needs to get more than just two copies of each volume because whenever I go there, I always end up missing some, darn it! *Points at brand new volumes 17 and 19 as an example***

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"_Gaara… I love you." I was standing beside him on the very mesa where I was ordered to kill him, and the very mesa I would eventually be exiled on. We were both leaning against the railing, watching the clouds drift across the sky._

_"I know." Gaara replied, and I smiled faintly. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly, his tone slightly concerned. He didn't like to show much emotion around people he didn't trust, but he was still working on better expressing it around people he did trust._

_"I… I hate this!" I started out hesitant, but ended up just shouting it. Gaara frowned, taken aback._

_"Hate what?" He asked hesitantly._

_"I hate _this_!" I exclaimed, pointing at him. He frowned even more. "Not us, Gaara. Don't get me wrong. I just hate that we have to be separated. Every time I get a mission, I'm always distracted. I do a damn good job, but I just miss you so much… and every time you go on a mission, I freak out. I can't do anything. I end up just pacing around your room the entire time you're gone, panicking and thinking about the worst outcomes." I was tearing up at this point. "And it's ridiculous! I feel so pathetic and weak because of it!" Now I was spitting in anger at myself. Can you say moody? "I'm supposed to be a shinobi, not a weak little girl."_

_"Did you know that I can't sleep without you beside me anymore?" I finished quietly, feeling drained all of a sudden._

_"…I can't sleep without you either." Gaara joked and I looked at him to see an amused expression on his face. I reached out and lightly smacked his shoulder, causing the sand at our feet to spin involuntarily as Gaara fought Shukaku's urge to protect him. We both ignored it, not allowing it to dampen the mood._

_"You jerk. I'm being serious here, and you just joke about your demon induced insomnia. That's right, Mr. Demon-Shukaku. I'm putting all the blame on you." I said, sticking my tongue out at Gaara, who rolled his eyes at me._

"_Look, I agree. I feel the same way, honestly… Especially with the not sleeping factor." Another light smack. "So I'll ask that you always be put on our teams." That made me pause._

_"…Really?" I asked after a moment, and Gaara nodded._

_"Really." He said and I grinned happily._

"_Oh thank god! For a minute there, I was afraid I was going to get infected with your insomnia and never sleep again!" I teased and he chuckled so softly I almost didn't hear it. Despite that, it made me smile even wider._

"…They killed Asuma?" I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my eyes shut. I used my other hand to hold shut the thick jacket that Kakashi had kindly offered me. I didn't even bother asking why in the hell he randomly carried around an extra jacket, and just took it greedily.

"Yeah… But Shikamaru killed Hidan. Naruto and Kakashi killed Kakuzu." Kakashi informed me, but I stayed silent. _They killed Asuma… He was like a father to Shikamaru, who is Temari's boyfriend… _I felt Gaara's chakra approaching and stood up, walking towards the exit. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving." I said calmly, and Kakashi stood up.

"I thought you were waiting for the Kazekage." He pointed out and I frowned.

"Then I suppose he'll be disappointed. I have other things to do." I stated and Kakashi put a hand on my shoulder to stop me as I grabbed the doorknob.

"I can't let you go, Sakura."

"And why not?" I questioned coldly.

"Because like it or not, you broke the law when you lived in the Land of Wind the entire time you were exiled from it. Since the Kazekage is coming here, it's my duty as a shinobi to keep you here until he arrives." Kakashi replied calmly and I slowly looked over my shoulder at him, narrowing my eyes dangerously. I felt him tense at my killing intent and I spoke.

"I said I couldn't control my chakra… I lied." I lied slowly and he narrowed his eye at me. "If you don't release me, I will demonstrate just how much control I have." I hissed icily and he met my gaze with equal determination. "Don't forget there are many civilians in the rooms around us." I reminded him coldly.

"You wouldn't bring them into this, Sakura." He said in a manner that told me he truly believed it.

"Oh really, Kakashi?" I asked in cold amusement. "Would you really like to test that theory? I am an assassin, you know." It somewhat surprised me when he reluctantly released his grasp on me, and honestly offended me a little that he believed my lies so easily but I didn't stop to think about it. I just opened the door and calmly walked out of the building as though the confrontation had never happened.

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Damn… I don't think I can face Temari right now. Not after hearing that Asuma died._ I thought as I sat down in a tree, the large coat that Kakashi had provided me wrapped tightly around my cold body. Suddenly, I felt a flare of chakra from Gaara, making me focus on him. Instantly, my eyes flew wide with surprise and I jumped to my feet. Frowning, I jumped off the branch and to the forest floor. "How in the hell did you find me?" I asked, genuinely curious and surprised. Gaara immediately floated down to the ground in front of me on a cloud of sand that dispersed when he hit the ground.

"I knew you would go this way. It was easy enough from there." He said and I frowned. "My siblings have gone on ahead. I told them I would catch up after they were asleep." Gaara added and I nodded, still frowning. "Though I am curious as to why you ran from me… or, for that matter, why you're even alive to do so."

"I'm too stubborn to die." I said with a snort. "And I ran because of several reasons. Number one being that I can't look Temari in the eye knowing that the bastards that damn near killed me ended up killing Asuma. Not to mention Kankurou's puppet…" I winced slightly and redirected my gaze to the tree beside me. "Anyways, I didn't run from you. Just the people around you.

"I don't understand." Gaara murmured in slight confusion, and I sighed heavily.

"Well, Gaara. I suppose we have a lot to talk about. Have a seat, then." I waved lazily to the tree across from me as I settled down against a tree trunk. Gaara calmly sat down across from me. "For starters… How much did Temari tell you?"

"Everything she learned from Chiyo." He stated calmly and I nodded.

"So less than half the story. Got it. Then let me start from the beginning. One morning when I was like thirteen or something, I was sitting around minding my own business while training. Out of the blue I get a message from the Kazekage telling me to get to the mesa. Already fearing for my life, I rushed to the designated place and waited for his late ass to show. He really had no manners." I rolled my eyes and went on. "So then he comes and tells me to jump. I ask how high. He tells me high enough to kill you."

"What a joyful conversation, no?" At Gaara's unamused expression, I huffed slightly in annoyance. _I guess that sense of humor I brought out of him disappeared when I did.._. "Anyways… I heard the stories about people who refused to accept missions from him. Hell, I still have a few scars to remind me that they are true. So I accepted the mission, and very regretfully. I didn't know you, and honestly at the time I hated you just as much as all the other villagers."

"I just hated assassinating people, really. But that was in the job description, so I got to work on the deadliest poison I have ever made. I finished it in no time and was just waiting for the word when I started to think of your brother and sister like they were family. For someone who never really had a family of their own, that was a big deal for me. After a while, I started to realize that it would crush them to know that I had only used them to get to you, even though it became so much more than that."

"So… I started making plans. I had an entire escape planned out for when the Kazekage told me to kill you and I would give him the finger, actually." I said with a light grin. "Even dug a secret passage out of Suna. That's how determined I was to never lay a finger on you."

"Did you get rid of the poison?" Gaara asked and I shook my head.

"Nope. I kept it sealed up nice and tight and kept it with me at all times. Anyways, then the Chuunin Exams rolled around. Ah, the memories of being pinned to a tree and being damn near crushed by Shukaku. Good times." I said sarcastically. "and then you changed… And soon, I started to think of you as family too." I frowned lightly at the memories that had once brought me happiness, but now brought me sadness. "And then more than that… And then, once we got together, I started regretting not having just told your father 'no' the second he came to me."

"I tried to make up for it. I went with you on your missions, and protected you with my own body when it came to it. I gave you advice when you needed it, and told you how to become Kazekage, and you did it. But nothing I did helped with it… Then you approached me and told me you knew. I was so relieved that I didn't have to hide it anymore and carry that burden by myself… but you thought I was still plotting your death. I would have come to that same conclusion. But instead of trying to correct you, I accepted your punishment because I just hated myself that much."

I sighed heavily, putting my head in my hands. "When you pushed me over the side of the mesa, I landed badly. Though, that was because I wanted the fall to kill me because of how much I hated myself. I wound up with a cracked skull, broken rib, dislocated shoulder, and an elbow I couldn't move for a week." I chuckled bitterly. "but I didn't die from the fall, so I got up and walked towards the border to leave the Land of Wind, just as ordered."

"But I couldn't make it. I was injured, bleeding a lot, badly concussed, freezing cold, and I just didn't _want_ to live. So I laid down and just let the icy temperature take me." I sighed softly, still burying my face in my hands. "Fate just wasn't playing nice with me. I was found and taken in by a man and his daughter. They were both wonderful to me, and I realized there was hope. I couldn't do my duty as a shinobi, so I would make up for my mistakes by doing my duty as a medic-nin."

"It was my fresh start." I smiled lightly. "I pretended to have amnesia so I could truly have a fresh start. I discarded my identity as Sakura Haruno, assassin and poison creator, and I became Saki Mashika, innocent daughter of a peasant family who healed people and saved lives for nothing in return but food to eat and a place to sleep… and I finally felt like I was making up for all my sins."

"But… nothing good ever lasts. I felt you fight with Deidara. I was rushed to Suna the second I felt your chakra drop to dangerous levels. I found Kankurou dying in the sand and removed the poison, then bottled it up and saved it for later. Then I chased after you. They never stopped moving, so I didn't either. I had run non-stop for three days when Temari came out of nowhere and started wailing on me." I laughed a bit at the memory.

"And Chiyo found us after that using the same thing I was using to find you. When they… When they started to… remove… Shukaku from you, I felt…" I paused, pulling my hands away from my eyes to put one on my chest as I winced in memory. "I felt it all… It was so bad that it literally had me writhing on the ground screaming in absolutely unbearable agony until I was so oxygen deprived that I just passed out. I ended up staying unconscious until the second day of the… extraction…" I shivered slightly. "But the pain was still bad enough that I could hardly see."

"Everything was spinning, and everything was white and blurred. Then some Akatsuki guy came up and made conversation with me while the others were just gone doing something or other. I didn't know he was Akatsuki until he was close enough, at which point I punched the ground to rubble. When I did it, though, I planted the poison I had made for…" I paused before just continuing without even saying it. "So I planted the poison into the ground. Then, after he kicked my ass because I was pretty much blind, I hit the ground again and broke the poison's container."

"…and then he died." I said with a sigh. "And we moved on. While everyone else went after… you… Chiyo and I stayed behind and fought Sasori." I closed my eyes at this, taking a deep breath. "I was the one who mainly fought him after the first several minutes. But… after I broke his puppet's shell, he showed his true face and…" I stood up and started to pace. "And then he brought out his puppet, and we fought." I completely skipped who Sasori was, and who his puppet was, and it didn't go unnoticed by Gaara, who frowned.

"and we won. We were losing for a while there, and his puppet had completely incapacitated Chiyo's puppets and semi-incapacitated Chiyo herself, so I was pretty much on my own for a lot of the fight. I ended up completely shattering my fingers and knuckles, and was still fighting with it. It took a lot of time, and I got badly injured in the process, but I managed to destroy the puppet. Chiyo was able to use her right arm again once I did that, and so she rejoined the fight."

"She brought out ten puppets at once while Sasori brought out a hundred, using chakra strings from his chest to control them all. We were losing, so I had to go for Sasori himself while Chiyo took care of the puppets. I got him pinned and sealed, but it turned out to be a decoy… It was too late when we realized it, and I was…" I paused for a second. "I was dying fast. Chiyo had to act quick and without me there to help her, it was harder, but she managed to win. Honestly, Sasori let her win… I'm not sure why exactly, but he did."

"He could have escaped, but he let her trap and destroy him… and then she used her tensei jutsu to save my life. Now she was dying instead of me, and we made our way to you…"

"I know the rest." Gaara said abruptly and I paused in my pacing to glance at him, but his expression was blank. I returned to my pacing and silently did so for several minutes before Gaara spoke up.

"Sakura, who is Alleria?" I froze.

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**Oh ho ho ho! What's this? :D Who might this Alleria character be?**

**Read next chapter and find out :D **

**Please review ^^**


	13. Anger

**Here's chapter 13! Sorry, but Alleria isn't explained until next chapter... But things are going to start looking up very soon! You all probably want to strangle me for not having Sakura and Gaara get back together fast enough, but I promise it will be soon. *rubs the back of her head with a nervous laugh* Anyways, enjoy the chapter regardless, please.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I do own clumsy, accident prone, apparently-picked-the-wrong-life-job Carpenter Hatsuri! Whose name I just realized sounds like Matsuri... Curses!**

**Also, I was going to wait another day to post this, but Amethyst224 convinced me otherwise with her review! It made me smile, so I jumped on the second I read it and posted this for you all. So here's to you, Amethyst! ^^**

**Grr! Are you kidding me? Stupid internet being stupid and stupidly uploading the wrong chapter! D: Sorry about that!**

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"Sakura… Who is Alleria?" I froze. Then I slowly turned and looked at Gaara with narrowed eyes.

"Where did you hear that name?" I asked blankly.

"You took none of your things with you. I was emptying everything out of the house when I came across the name." He said calmly and I hissed at him softly.

"You had _no_ right." I spat angrily and he frowned.

"Who is she, Sakura?" Gaara asked again and I snarled softly.

"It is none of your damn business, _Kazekage-sama_." I hissed the name and Gaara frowned deeply, looking almost hurt. "And my name isn't Sakura anymore. It's Saki Mashika, and don't you dare forget it because I stopped being Sakura the moment I found my _new_ family. Now, if you'll _excuse me,_ I have a _family_ to return to." I spat furiously before whipping around and leaping away, leaving a secretly hurt and confused Gaara behind.

I raced through the snowy wasteland, completely blinded by rage. _How dare he? What right did he have to ask me that? And what right did he have to go through my things?_ I wondered furiously as I ran back towards my home.

* * *

"Saki-sama!" Miyuki squealed as she barreled into me, squeezing me tightly. I smiled tightly, hugging the nine year old girl back.

"Saki? You're back." Hatsuri walked into the entrance room and smiled lightly with relief.

"Did you get my letter?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Torri refused to give it to me." Miyuki said with a huff and I laughed softly.

"I told her not to, Miyuki. I wrote it for father." I reminded her and she grumbled under her breath.

"Miyuki, don't you have to go look at your friend?" Hatsuri gently reminded her, and she instantly straightened.

"Oh yeah! Gotta run!" Miyuki squeaked before dashing past me and out the door. I watched her until she was out of sight, then looked back at Hatsuri questioningly.

"Her friend burnt her arm while cooking." He explained and I nodded with a weak smile. "It was rough for the first two weeks after you disappeared. We thought you were dead, Saki. The Kazekage told us you had been heavily wounded and there was a lot of blood loss. They hadn't found you when the sand storm hit, and we thought for sure you were out in the middle of the desert when it hit, too weak to make it to the next town, and we didn't know there were any caves or anything like that for shelter…"

"I would have died, honestly. I had such bad wounds that I couldn't reach the mountain before my legs gave out. But I crawled the rest of the way and got into a cave. I was extremely lucky that Mivara was nearby when the sandstorm hit. She found me unconscious and bleeding to death and patched me up enough for me to survive. But because of the crawling, sand got into the wound and got infected. I was conscious long enough to remove the infection, but she pretty much had to carry me all the way to the next town." I explained with a sigh.

"I see… But you're back now, and you're healthy… But why are you upset?" Hatsuri asked and I blinked at him in surprise. "I can tell you're unhappy, Saki. I've known you long enough… What's happened?"

"It's… complicated…" I murmured as I sat down in the living room, looking at my hands that were folded in my lap. "Father… I remember my whole past. But… that's all it is to me. My past. This is my present, and Saki Mashika is my future." I said quickly, looking up to meet his eyes as he sat down on the chair across from me.

"I'm glad to hear that… but what is it you're trying to say?" He asked calmly and I sighed.

"I used to be a Sunagakure Medic-Nin under Chiyo, my great-grandmother. I didn't know she was my family until very recently. My mother was killed in childbirth, and I was born early so no one thought I would survive. My father, crushed and… crazed… by the news of his wife's death and his daughter's soon to follow, abandoned Sunagakure and became a missing-nin criminal. The Third Kazekage worried that he would return to Sunagakure and kill whoever was raising me so he could take me once he found out I was alive."

"So he took me in as a newborn. Chiyo came and used her skills to keep me alive until I was the proper age to have been born. But the Third was right. The Third Kazekage disappeared and Chiyo came out of retirement to raise me herself. She had a picture of my father, and she told me it was my father, but she never spoke his name or explained how she knew him. I would ask but she would never answer, so eventually I just stopped asking."

"When… When I ran off for two weeks, it was to go and save the man I loved. Chiyo and I fought off one enemy while the others went after the one that had G- the person I loved. We… I broke the puppet that the man was hiding in and… I recognized him as the person who Chiyo said was my father." I blinked back tears and Hatsuri put his hand over mine. "And then I remembered Chiyo telling one of the people I was traveling with that he was her grandson… I put two and two together. Chiyo's grandson was my father…"

"Father, I made a mistake almost two years ago." I teared up as I met Hatsuri's gaze again. "I agreed to take a mission to kill the person I would eventually fall in love with… And when he realized it, the man I loved ordered my exile from Sunagakure and the Land of Wind for committing treason. I should have been killed… I wasn't going to kill him, though. I really wasn't!" I broke into sobs and Hatsuri moved to sit beside me, wrapping his arm around me and hushing me softly.

"But you didn't, Saki. You saved him, remember?" He whispered and I nodded.

"I was too late, Father. When I got to him, he was dead." I sobbed harder at the memory of Gaara's unmoving body. "So I… I started to die as well, Father." Hatsuri tensed slightly. "I was trading my life for his, but Chiyo stopped me and died instead. But she was already dying and wasn't fast enough for me to cancel the jutsu and walk away unscathed. I'm sick, father. I'm not dying, but I lost a fraction of my life and gave it to him. I'm weak and I my chakra is imbalanced for some reason. I can't control it right and it makes things really difficult…"

"Saki." Hatsuri grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back a bit so he could meet my gaze firmly. "Stop this. Right now. You're blaming yourself for everything that isn't your fault. You accepted a mission without intending to follow through. You were willing to betray your country so someone else could live their life. That's something to be proud about. I know that I'm proud of you for it." He said sternly and I blinked. _I hadn't thought of it like that…_

"You didn't betray him, either. You were exiled because you didn't explain what happened, not because you did something wrong, because you _didn't_ do anything wrong." He said the last part quickly. "Chiyo died because she was already dying. You were alive and well, and she wanted you to stay that way because she loved you. Your father died because he was apparently an evil and crazy son of a bitch. Your mother died because _her_ body got funky and went into labor too soon. None of that has _anything_ to do with you, Saki. Why can't you understand that?"

"Because everything goes wrong with people whenever I'm around!" I shouted with a small sob.

"Everything goes wrong everywhere, Saki." Hatsuri said with a sigh. "My wife was killed in a town raid. She was pregnant with Miyuki's brother or sister when it happened. That was eight years ago, Saki. You weren't here for that. My brother died when he was helping build a house for a young couple and a beam slipped and crushed him. You weren't there to cause it. Our last town leader died from cancer. You weren't there either."

"Don't you see it, Saki? Bad things happen to everyone no matter where they are, and no matter where you are. Konohagakure was destroyed while you were in a coma two countries away. Nothing I'm describing is your fault, and nothing you described was your fault either. You need to stop finding ways to blame everything on yourself." Hatsuri sighed again and I looked at him with a frown.

"It's not that, father… it's just that I loved Gaara so much I hated myself for having ever agreed to kill him." I explained, not realizing my slip up until Hatsuri's eyes widened with shock, and I'm sure my expression quickly mirrored his.

"The _Kazekage_?" He gaped at me, looking a bit like a fish out of water. "Saki, you… This…" He closed his mouth, recovering from his shock and nodded, tensely motioning for me to continue.

"I… hated myself for planning his demise. I was angry that I only ever got close to him because I was going to kill him." I said bitterly after much hesitation. "And with my father and mother, I don't blame myself for that. I just wish I could have known my father before he became the man he was… Father, he almost killed me. When I say that, I mean I would be long dead if Chiyo hadn't used the life-transfer jutsu to save me. She was already dying, so I don't blame myself for that." I added quickly. "But I realized that he still cared for me. He was in shock after stabbing me, and he _let_ Chiyo kill him. At first I didn't understand why, but I realized it not too long ago. He still cared for me."

I let out a sigh. "And I'm thankful that Chiyo sacrificed herself to save Gaara. I loved him so much that I was more than willing to die so he could live... That makes me sound really emo, doesn't it?" I asked suddenly, grinning at Hatsuri. He laughed lightly.

"No. It just means you love him." He said with a shrug, seeming more relaxed. "But Saki… I think you need to figure out this problem you have. I don't mean to hurt you, but without your chakra working, your about as useless as the rest of us mortals." He said the last part with a teasing wink and I laughed.

"Gee, dad. Way to make a girl feel special!" I jabbed him with my elbow and jumped to my feet before he could retaliate. "I'll go to Sunagakure to get some research done tomorrow, okay?"

"But aren't you exiled?" Hatsuri asked with a frown.

"Yeah, but that hasn't stopped me yet." I said as I walked up the stairs to my room, laughing. I heard Hatsuri chuckle softly behind me as I closed my door. "Uhg…" I narrowed my eyes, instantly angry at the idea of going to Suna. "But he's right. I have to figure this out." I muttered unhappily, lying down on my bed and closing my eyes.

* * *

"_Sakura, I'm going to teach you a very important lesson over the next several days, possibly weeks. Are you ready?" Chiyo asked me when I was seven. Frowning, I nodded at her in affirmation. "All right. As a medic-nin, attacking comes second. Do you understand why?"_

"_The medical ninja acts as support for the team. They should put medical support first and attacking second." I answered with a frown._

_"Wrong!" Chiyo barked and I flinched at her loud tone. "The medical ninja should _never_ be hit by the enemies attacks. When you face an opponent, evasion is the first priority." Chiyo growled and I frowned._

"_Why?" I asked in confusion, and Chiyo let out a sigh._

_"If the medical ninja were to die, who would keep her team alive?" She paused for a moment. "Now, I'm going to attack you. The training is avoiding all of my attacks… I will not hold back."_

"Too slow!" I hissed as I easily hit Miyuki. The girl jumped backwards, wincing and rubbing her arm. "No stopping." I said as I attacked again. She barely got away and glared at me angrily.

"What's your problem!" She demanded and I met her glare.

"My problem is that you aren't even trying to dodge!"

"Maybe because you've got seventeen years of experience and I have two!" Miyuki spat and I narrowed my eyes.

"So now you're making excuses for your slowness and weakness? What kind of medic are you if you can't even dodge a simple punch?" I demanded and Miyuki's eyes widened with anger. Suddenly, I let out a gasp as my arm burst into flames. The rage faded instantly, replaced by shock and fear, and I made a quick hand sign, blowing water onto the flames and quenching them. _Son of a bitch, it hurts!_ I thought as I hissed softly in pain.

"Oh my god! Are you okay! What happened!" Miyuki asked in a panicked tone as she raced to my side.

"Calm down, Miyuki. I told you that my chakra has been acting up, didn't I?" I lied calmly to soothe the girl's fear.

"So you just did that?" She asked with wide eyes and I forced a smile.

"There's no need to worry, Miyuki. It's lunchtime, so go home and eat with father, okay?" I said gently and she nodded, still looking shocked.

"What about you?"

"I need to get to Sunagakure. I had intended to leave an hour ago, but I got distracted." I assured her with a smile. I turned to leave quickly, but grinned at her over my shoulder. "Great job, by the way. You did way better than I did on my first time." I winked at her before jumping away, hoping she didn't realize I was getting away as fast as possible because now I had two reasons to go to Suna. _How the hell did she do that?_

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_**Dun dun dun! What's happening now! :O All shall be revealed next chapter ^^ Please review! **_


	14. Alleria

**Gah! Sorry about that everyone! The last chapter has been fixed. That's what happens when you stay up all night writing, people D: You mess up! Sorry about that =( To make up for it, here's Chapter 14 two days ahead of schedule D: Sorry again!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... But I own Inuyasha! *points to a poster of Inuyasha* Haha!**

**Also, no, I didn't post the wrong chapter. It was just bugged, but it should be fixed now...**

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I ran towards Sunagakure wearing my red and white bordered yukata and traditional sandals. I had no weapons on me, and my mid-back length pink hair was loose with a red headband to hold it out of my face. I had stopped to wrap my arm up with bandages since I couldn't heal it myself without getting weakened and I needed to be at full strength with where I was going. I was several yards away from the gates when a kunai flew towards me. I immediately dodged it and then stopped moving, holding up my hands.

"What reasons have you to disobey your orders of exile and return here?" One of the gate shinobi demanded as he jumped down several feet away from me, narrowing his eyes.

"I was under the impression that the Kazekage had questions for me." I said calmly, keeping my hands up in surrender. The shinobi reached for his kunai pouch and I frowned. _This isn't going nearly as good as I intended… Come on, Gaara. Get your slow ass out here before he stabs me._ I thought as I felt his chakra start to head towards the gate. "I have no weapons on me. I am completely at your mercy. Why would I do that if I planned to cause harm?" I pointed out softly.

"Why would you come here at all?" He retorted and I sighed.

"Because I was told the Kazekage wanted to speak with me." I explained in a calm tone that I was far from feeling.

"I do." Gaara stated calmly as he descended from his cloud of sand. Instantly, the shinobi dropped to a kneel quickly, while I just tilted my head and met Gaara's eyes.

"About time. I think I was about to get stabbed." I said with a light sigh.

"I was under the impression that you didn't want to talk." Gaara said coolly, ignoring what I said.

"I don't. But I need access to the Sunagakure library, and I'll answer whatever questions you have if you allow me that." I explained and he narrowed his eyes, motioning for the shinobi to leave with a twitch of his hand. I watched as the shinobi jumped away immediately and snickered slightly. "Faithful like dogs."

"At least they do not betray their village." Gaara calmly remarked and I narrowed my eyes slightly, but ignored it, knowing he knew very well that wasn't the case.

"Do we have a deal? You grant me access to the library and in turn I will answer all your questions." I stated the terms again and Gaara eyed me before nodding.

"However, you will be supervised the entire time you're in the library." He said and I nodded in agreement.

"And once all is done, you won't hear so much as a whisper about me ever again." I said with a small smirk. "Shall we, then?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. Then, none too gently, Gaara formed a cloud of sand under our feet and we flew into the air over Suna. _Strange… I haven't seen Sunagakure from the sky in a long time…_ I mused, smiling very lightly at the memory of the last time we had.

"_So Gaara, you love me, right?" I asked him as we walked along the large mesa's surrounding Sunagakure, headed towards our usual spot on them._

_"Yes…" Gaara said, looking at me curiously._

_"If I fell, would you catch me?" I asked him and he frowned in confusion._

_"Yes?" He answered almost questioningly, so I grinned._

"_Then catch me." I said before I playfully spun around and let myself fall over the side of the mesa. He didn't disappoint. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and pull me against his chest, my feet touching the sand cloud holding us up._

_"You're insane." Gaara said, pressing his forehead against mine._

_"I hear love does that to people." I replied, smiling softly._

_"Remind me to stop spoiling you." Gaara muttered with a sigh and I kissed him passionately. After a moment or two, we pulled away and I glared at him, putting my hands on my hips. _

_"Don't you dare ever stop spoiling me." I said sternly and he chuckled before kissing me again._

I shook myself from my thoughts and frowned deeply. "Wait, I need to go to my old house first." I said suddenly and Gaara looked at me with a frown. "I need some of my old treatment books for my sister." I lied easily and Gaara frowned further before suddenly descending. Unable to use chakra in my feet to hold my balance, I quickly grabbed Gaara's sleeve with one hand to stay upright. I felt him tense and he gave me a cold look before we landed in front of Chiyo's old house.

"All right, come on. I'll answer your questions while I'm getting these things together."

* * *

"Who is she?" Gaara asked pretty much the second I sat down at the table with tea, the whole table covered in my old notes and Chiyo's notes as well.

"Gaara… I'm not happy with my past." I said calmly as I started to go through the scrolls and journals, looking for a specific year or subject. I didn't even look at him, completely disregarding him.

"I'm not either." He said coolly, but I ignored it.

"I have… a complicated… family." I said before smiling bitterly. "One might say I followed my father's footsteps well."

"I thought you didn't know your family." Gaara accused, narrowing his eyes.

"I didn't. I only learned things very recently… Gaara, I know that you didn't find out about Alleria through anything of mine because I have never written her name." I said calmly but I knew he could see I was extremely tense. "Though it took me a while to remember that."

"You're right… Ebizou-sama died recently… and he gave me a letter beforehand. Asked that I give it to you… But due to your status as a traitor, I couldn't fulfill his wish, so I read it myself… Who is Alleria?" Gaara asked coldly and I sighed. I didn't answer for several minutes, searching through the pile until I found what I was looking for. _Aha… from exactly thirty years ago…_ I grabbed the journal and sat down, sipping my tea.

"My mother died in childbirth." I said as I scanned the pages, looking for the right entry.

"So you told me." Gaara said icily, obviously unhappy with me avoiding the question again, and I nodded.

"I didn't mention that it was because I was born almost two months premature… My father clung to the hope that I would survive, but the doctors told him that he had already lost his wife and that he would lose me too… and so his sanity was lost with us. He abandoned Sunagakure and became a missing-nin. Chiyo came the minute she heard about my mother's death, but he had already left. She used her jutsu's to keep me alive until I was fully developed. The Third Kazekage was worried he would return for me when he realized I was alive, so he took me into his care… But when my father found out I was still alive, he came for me."

"But the Kazekage got in his way, so my father had to get rid of him first… Without him there, Chiyo took me in and protected me." I explained with a small frown. "My father was Sasori…" I glanced up to see Gaara's frozen expression, and I met his gaze strongly. "And my mother's name was Alleria Haruno. Chiyo was my great-grandmother, and my father helped kill you… So I killed him with my bare hands. Funny that I go so far for someone I apparently want to kill…" I said dryly with a pointed look at him. "In the process, I was mortally wounded. I was left with an injury so bad I would have bled out within only a minute, but Chiyo saved me the same way that she saved you…" I looked back down at the journal I was flipping through.

"So while I killed my father to save your life, knowing he was my father as I did, and tried to sacrifice my life so you could have yours, I'm being interrogated by you as though I were the criminal…" I mused emotionlessly before narrowing my eyes. "Found it…" I murmured softly, quickly reading the fine hand written script.

_"November 19__th__, _

_Today we cancelled the second project. To recap, the jutsu came with greater risk than we had originally anticipated. It brought life, but killed the user in the process. When I realized this, I stopped another shinobi from completing the jutsu so they wouldn't follow in his steps. But I was too late. The user lived, but began to suffer from chakra malfunction, causing them to lose their ability to control chakra. At first it started out as simple weakness. We assumed it would correct itself, but it did not… And so began a branch project. We studied their chakra intently, learning everything that we could._

_The user, over time, began to get weaker and weaker. It got to the point that they couldn't so much as stand on water or on a wall. Finally, we realized what it was. The user had transferred some of their life into their patient, but not all of it. It was enough to allow the patient to live and recover, then return to their shinobi training. Because of this, the patient had some of the user's chakra in them. Because it came from the user's life force itself, the chakra was permanently missing and wouldn't properly meld with the patient's chakra._

_So I created a way to balance the user's chakra with this knowledge. The user and patient had to fill a phial with their blood and mix a small amount of the herbs that create soldier pills. Then the user ingests it, and it will restore their balance for an amount of time that seems to be undeterminable. When the effects start to wear off, the user will have to ingest more. However, the damage is done, and the patient will be forever connected to the user by the chakra and life force. For some reason, through this connection, if the patient begins to lose chakra, they will automatically and unknowingly tap into the user's chakra._

_Today, the patient killed the user when they lost too much chakra on a mission and unknowingly used all of the user's chakra, thus ending the branch project."_

I frowned deeply when I read the passage, narrowing my eyes. "Well… This complicates things." I mused and glanced up to see Gaara watching me without an expression. I closed the book silently, hiding how much the information irked me, and grabbed a scroll that I had earlier set aside.

"Kekkei Genkai's?" Gaara read the label of the scroll and I nodded, rolling it open. I reached out and used my finger to pinpoint where I was reading on the small texted scroll, causing my sleeve to ride up a bit. "What happened?" Gaara asked and I looked up to see he was staring at the edges of my bandage wrap with a frown.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." I replied honestly, looking back down at the scroll. I scanned it quickly, thankful that Chiyo separated the Kekkei Genkai's into sections based on the element it used, making it easier to find what I was looking for. I read the information and paled immediately, my body cold.

"What is it?" Gaara asked in slight alarm and I slowly raised my eyes to meet his.

"We have a problem…" I murmured softly and Gaara frowned. "Gaara… I need you to do something for me… it's very important that you do this…" He said nothing so I continued. "I need you to get the council together _immediately._"

* * *

I was sitting on the edge of the large circular table, my toes touching the floor and my other leg draped over that knee. My arms were folded across my chest and I chewed my lip softly as I waited for the council to arrive. Sitting in the chair only a foot to my right, Gaara watched me intently. I could tell that he was concerned by whatever it was that was making me freak out like I was, but he remained expressionless as we waited. Finally, the doors opened and the council of Sunagakure started to filter in, pausing when they saw me.

"Kazekage-sama! How dare you allow a traitor into this sacred room!" Joseki shouted instantly, his eyes wide with anger.

"Quiet yourself. I'm sure our Kazekage has a good reason for this." Baki said coldly and Joseki scowled unhappily. The council slowly started to sit down, and Baki was the one to sit on the other side of me, eyeing me warily.

"Now then… What's the meaning of this?" Ryusa asked calmly, and I was reminded why he and Baki were the only Council members that I never wanted to strangle with my sock. He, like Baki, actually shut the hell up and listened before giving their opinions, and even when they didn't agree, they'd still follow Gaara to the death. Gaara looked at me and I sighed heavily. I stood up and instantly began to pace behind Gaara and Baki, who turned their chairs to face me, rubbing my temples to calm myself down. It didn't work, and I ended up just blurting it out like a panicky child.

"I got the fuck burned out of me by a god-damned Jeriko!"

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**And so with the end of one mystery comes the beginning of another! All will be revealed next chapter, promise =) (And I totally made up this whole 'Jeriko' thing, so it should be interesting) Again, sorry for the chapter mix up! D:**

**Please review!**


	15. Jeriko

**Yeesh! Let's hope mistakes and odd glitches are over and done with! :D Here's chapter 15 for you all ^^ **

**Disclaimer: *Wail* I own nothing!**

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"I got the fuck burned out of me by a Jeriko!" I finally blurted out, whipping around to face the council with wide eyes. I was mostly greeted with confusion, but the elderly Joseki was staring at me in shock.

"A… Jeriko?" He asked and I nodded frantically.

"Believe me, I wouldn't say this in jest." I said before swiftly spinning on my heel and pacing like a mad woman.

"What is a 'Jeriko'?" Baki asked with a frown in his voice.

"A Jeriko is… a-"

"Weapon of mass destruction stuffed into a human body!" I burst out when Joseki hesitated, still pacing.

"For lack of a better explanation, yes." Joseki hesitantly agreed. "A Jeriko… is very rare. There's no way of telling how they are created as they simply… appear randomly. They are able to completely manipulate any and all flames, as well as creating them out of thin air. Their powers are activated in a time of much stress, and there are no signs of their abilities until they-"

"Until they accidently light their sister on fire!" I snapped when he hesitated again.

"And once their powers are activated?" Ryusa questioned lightly, trailing off at the end.

"They become uncontrollable. Anything that irritates a Jeriko can cause them to retaliate with their powers."

"Like lighting their sister on fire." I muttered under my breath as I paced, but it went ignored.

"And their retaliation can range from a small burst of flame to an explosion strong enough to obliterate an entire city." Joseki finished with a sigh. "They can't be controlled, either. Their powers are completely uncontrollable. The only thing even close to controlling their power is controlling their temper to the point that they never get angry."

"I see… What do you suggest we do about this Jeriko?" Baki asked as Gaara scanned everyone in the room, thinking.

"Our strongest enemy has the ability to create flames that cannot be put out…" Gaara mused with a frown. "But you say they cannot control their powers?"

"No. Even if they were trying to save someone by moving flames away, it would most likely end with them causing an explosion." Joseki said unhappily.

"Then what choice is there?" Goza asked icily. "We need to eliminate the problem before they kill someone." I spun around and slammed my fist into the table as hard as I could, causing everyone but Gaara to jump in surprise. I narrowed my eyes slightly when I realized the table didn't even crack, whereas at my full strength, it would be nothing but sawdust.

"Don't you _dare!_ It's a nine year old _child_ for god's sake!" I shouted furiously, feeling the sand under my feet stir in warning.

"It's a massacre waiting to happen." Goza snapped back and I let out a snarl of anger.

"If you go anywhere _near_ my baby sister, I will fucking slaughter you!" I growled and he looked taken aback. I felt the sand fall back to the ground calmly, completely unnoticed by anyone but me. I suddenly felt a rush of weakness, and was thankful that I was leaning against the table on my hand. Otherwise, I would have sunk to the ground. I felt something cold being pressed to my throat and looked from the corner of my eye to find Baki holding a kunai to my throat.

"I respect my Kazekage's decision to allow you into this sacred room, but I will not permit you to defile it with your violence. If you cannot control yourself, then you will be removed… One way or another." Baki said calmly in warning. I glared at him, but relaxed my fist, pressing my palm against the table.

"I find it curious that you even believe you _can_ protect the girl when you aren't even allowed in the Land of Wind to begin with." Ryusa commented offhandedly, looking genuinely curious.

"She is allowed, Ryusa." Gaara cut in calmly and I looked at him in surprise. "I just finished the paperwork editing her order of exile. She is free to be in the town that she lives in, but she is not allowed to enter Sunagakure or leave her town unless called upon by myself or the council."

"Very well." Baki said as he returned to his seat.

"I… need to leave…" I said between deep breaths as I not only tried to calm myself, but tried to fight my sudden exhaustion. "I will help the girl with her temper. If I can, I will make her the mellowest person you'll ever meet." I said and was about to try to stand up on my own and leave when Joseki spoke.

"Wait… You implied that she burned you with her fire. Is this true?" Joseki asked and I nodded in confusion. "Please show us the injuries." He said and I frowned. Joseki gave me a serious look and I reluctantly untied my obi. I pulled it away, setting it down on the table, and slid my long sleeve off my right arm, which was covered in bandages. I was wearing my red camisole underneath, so nothing was revealed as I slowly began to unwrap the bandages. I watched as Joseki leaned forward, watching intently as I reached the final layer of bandages. I bit my lip at the pain as I pulled it away from the burns.

"What the hell?" Baki questioned in confusion as the bandages fell away to reveal my arm was covered in light burns. However, what stunned everyone as the thin stripe of black tattoo's on my wrist and on the skin just below my elbow. Even stranger, the entire gap between them was the burnt flesh... as though it was intentionally burned to fill the space perfectly.

"What the hell is that?" I asked Joseki, who shook his head.

"Her fire marked you as its creator. Did you awaken her powers?" He asked and I nodded, remembering her shock and fear. "Then you might just be able to teach her to control it to a degree… However, as I explained before, it cannot be controlled. The power is directly tied to her emotions, allowing her to use it to lash out, but the flames have a mind of their own. When I say this, I mean that they are similar to the Bijuu in a Jinchuuriki. The flames are alive, with a mind of their own, and they control themselves. However, they are tied to the user's emotions, so if the user gets angry, the fire does as well, and the fire will lash out."

"But when awakened, they lack control for a brief moment. If whoever was attacked lives to tell the tale, the flames are… grateful, I suppose, for allowing them to live again, albeit unknowingly, and mark you so they will always recognize you as an ally. Even if the user no longer cares for you, the flames will be rendered completely useless if used against you." Joseki explained.

"I see… So that's why I have a chance to train her…" I murmured in a slightly weaker tone, but Gaara still noticed the slight change.

"Is something the matter?" He asked and I shot him a cold look.

"I'm fine." I snapped and he narrowed his eyes slightly, but I ignored it. "I need to leave before my sister tells our father about what happened. I would appreciate it if we could keep this information to ourselves so that she isn't targeted for her abilities…" I eyed everyone icily, silently warning them.

"Don't allow what we spoke of here to leave this room." Gaara said calmly and several people nodded. "Leave." He turned away from them and looked towards the window as everyone filtered out, leaving just me there. "Why didn't you go?" He asked coldly and I frowned.

"I don't know where the stairs are." I stated and he looked at me with a slightly confused expression.

"You're a shinobi. You don't need the stairs." He pointed out and I shook my head, causing him to frown further.

"I'm not a shinobi anymore, Gaara. I permanently lost my powers when I was resurrecting you." I said calmly, watching his expression.

"No, you didn't. If you had, how did you keep up with us when you came to the Land of Iron? And how did you crush the rocks when the ceiling collapsed?" Gaara questioned and I shrugged.

"I've been steadily losing my chakra, Gaara. It was very difficult for me to follow you. I barely still had enough strength to destroy the rocks. Why do you think I was dodging the Akatsuki's attacks instead of fighting them off when they attacked?" I pointed out and he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"So you have no chakra use?" He asked and I nodded.

"Well, I have some, but… I stopped being able to heal only a month and a half after you…" I paled slightly at the memory of him dying and saw Gaara eye me with slight surprise. I look at him and gave a slight smile.

"What?" He inquired at my sudden smile.

"I can still read you like a book… Gaara…" I walked over to where he stood and leaned against the window sill, looking out it. "Do you remember when you were… Say, 13 and a half?" I picked absently at a sharp point in the paint as I looked at the clouds. "I had told you that I had come to think of you as a friend, and you didn't know what to believe. After all, why would anyone care for a murderer?" I quoted his words and felt Gaara shift beside me.

"I remember."

"I'm glad… It's one of my fonder memories." I admitted with a small smile. "You went up to your room, not completely believing me, so I followed you. I sat down beside you on your bed, the room pitch black because it was night, and told you that it was true. I told you that I'd always be your friend. Do you remember?" I asked.

"Yes." He stated simply, but his voice was softer than before.

"To prove that I trusted you and that I meant what I said, I cut my palm open and swore on my blood that I meant every word, and that I would always be there for you… That I trusted you... And I did this knowing that you still struggled with Shukaku's blood lust, finally convincing you that I meant it… Every time you went on a mission, I would sit in my room in my little town that I shouldn't have been in, and I would pray that you would come out alive."

"Every time you left the Land of Wind for a mission, I would follow you from a distance to make sure I was close enough to help if needed…" I looked down at my arms, moving my left arm to hold it out towards Gaara, the palm upturned. In the center of my palm was a long, thin scar. "I took an oath, Gaara. I've kept it to the end, even going so far as to destroy the only life I'd ever know to save you. I intend to continue keeping it, even if I have to do it as a mere mortal." I said softly with a light teasing smile, then turned around and began to leave in the direction the council members had left in. "When you're done thinking, come and see me, would you? You know where to find me…" I paused at the door and smiled softly. "Besides… I miss you terribly." Then I left, leaving him to process everything.

* * *

**Aw... So if you guys haven't noticed, Sakura's been borderline emotionless when she isn't around Gaara. This will be explained in the next chapter... and in chapter 17, they're getting back together! Yay! And in chapter 17, you'll also find out why Gaara's been treating her like he has despite knowing she's innocent.**


	16. Home Again

**Do do dodododo! Here's chapter 16 for you all =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do, however, own the Naruto Databook! *holds it up proudly***

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"Miyuki… I need to speak with you." I said seriously as I stood in the doorway to her room. Miyuki looked at me with a frown, but she silently nodded and followed me as I turned on my heel and walked towards the back door. I led her outside of the house, and then outside of the town before she spoke.

"Where're we going?" She asked curiously and I stopped walking, a good ways away from the town.

"Miyuki… I lied to you recently." I admitted softly, meeting her gaze.

"I know." Miyuki said and I blinked in surprise. "About the fire, right?"

"Yes… How did you know?" I asked with a confused expression.

"She told me." Miyuki said after a moment of hesitation. "She told me that she was sorry about hurting you because I was sorry…" Miyuki looked slightly confused as she said this.

"She?" I inquired and she nodded.

"The voice was feminine." She explained and I nodded, motioning for her to continue. "I was really angry when we were training… And I felt really hot. I didn't know why I felt so hot, but it was making me really annoyed, and I got angry at you for it… And then the hotness got worse. You told me to go home so I did, but I went and laid down instead of eating. I fell asleep because I didn't feel good, and I dreamt about an odd girl my age…" Miyuki trailed off hesitantly.

"Odd? How so?" I asked gently, and Miyuki frowned deeply.

"She had bright orange hair and eyes… And she didn't have pupils or any of that white part of your eye. Everything was just bright orange… And she looked exactly like me except for the eyes and hair color. I asked her why, and she said it was because she was the other half of me… And that as I grew, she would grow too, and that she would always feel what I felt…" Miyuki paused, tilting her head to the side. "She wants to talk to you?" Miyuki said questioningly.

"What?" I asked with a frown.

"She says she wants to talk to you…"

"All right… I would like to speak to her as well." I said with a smile and Miyuki smiled hesitantly before closing her eyes. I took a step back in shock as she suddenly burst into flames, but as fast as they came, they faded, leaving another person in their spot. This person looked exactly as Miyuki had described her. A nine year old with shoulder-length bright orange hair and bright orange, pupiless, and white-less eyes. "Who are you?" I asked her immediately, narrowing my eyes.

"My name is Jeriko." The girl said with a smile, but it seemed almost sinister.

"What are you?" I questioned after frowning further.

"I am fire." The girl stated, eyeing me. "And you are ice."

"How do you mean?" I inquired, curiously now.

"I can see that you aren't who you pretend to be… You force upon yourself an act of happiness and joy to protect others from who you really are…" She tilted her head to the side, eyeing me very carefully. I felt as though she were staring into the very depths of my soul. "But you are honorable. And at the same time, you are caring… But only to a few. My other half included."

"And how do you know this?" I asked her, my voice hard and cold in reaction to her words.

"Because I am yours, and you are mine." Jeriko said with a smile. I gave her a confused look, so she elaborated. "You are like a mother to Miyuki, and thus you are like one to me… Daughters follow their mothers, thus, I am yours… And my mark has been placed upon you, offering you endless protection from me and my kind… Thus, you are mine." I opened my mouth to speak, but she instantly continued. "I do not mean that in a possession manner. I simply meant that you have the control over me that a mother would have over their daughter… Albeit a twisted, sociopathic daughter made of fire." She flashed me a smirking grin and I frowned at her.

"I know that Miyuki can't gain control over you… But if you were to stay like you are now, are you able to completely control it?" I asked her, cutting to business.

"For the most part, yes. However, Miyuki is aware of what's happening to a degree. She isn't… conscious… But our emotions are tied together. It's the only reason I can stay within her. If I sever those ties, I will be left in my natural form… Which would be disastrous. Thus, I always remain within my hosts, from birth to death. Then, eventually, I will be reborn into a new person, and I will become their other halves… Anyways, when I am in control, our emotions are still connected."

"Despite her being unconscious, she will emotionally react to something that I experience while in control. If I was in control and you were hurt, she would be so furious and defensive that I would feel the same and would lash out. I act on emotions no matter how smart I am, because that's simply how I was created to be." Jeriko explained and I nodded, understanding most of it. The 'Miyuki feeling emotions while unconscious' thing didn't make much sense to me, but I decided to delve into that later.

"Jeriko… What happened to your other hosts?" I asked after a moment, fearing her answer.

"They were killed…" She said shortly. "Generally, when I am awoken for the first time, the effects are disastrous. The whole village being burned to the ground… The person who awoke it being killed in the process… You see, you are marked so that my powers will never affect you, but it only happens if you survive the attack itself. Thus why you're arm is badly wounded. Most people don't survive, and the ones that do either flee or die later on from their injuries anyways." Jeriko explained with a heavy sigh that almost sounded… regretful.

"And so a law was placed among all the lands… Should anyone ever be born with me in them, they shall be killed immediately… Before they could kill everyone else."

"I see…" I murmured, narrowing my eyes thoughtfully.

"However… You know all this… but not until after returning to Sunagakure… Who else knows?"

"The Kazekage and his Council. The Kazekage ordered that news of you was not to leave that room… You are safe. At least, as long as they see any hope of me teaching Miyuki control."

"It won't be too difficult." Jeriko mused thoughtfully. "I will help you… Well, if you don't try to kill me for my methods." She cracked a sinister smile again, showing her slightly fanged teeth that I hadn't noticed before.

"And what exactly would you methods be?" I growled lowly and she smirked.

"Well, I told you that our emotions are connected so that I feel everything she does and automatically act on those feelings, yes?" I nodded and motioned for her to continue, so she did. "It's a two way street, and I just happen to have _no emotions what-so-ever_." Jeriko sang the last part eerily and I grimaced. _So she can suppress Miyuki's emotions… or more like affect them to the point that they don't exist._

"I will only allow it on two conditions." Jeriko looked curious, so I went on. "You will only do it so that she doesn't lose control, and only if she agreed. Is that clear?" I demanded and she glared at me slightly before nodding. Then she tilted her head to the side, looking distant for a moment. Then, after several moments, she straightened up and shrugged.

"She agrees… I suggest you get to work." And with that, she burst into flames, leaving Miyuki in her place.

* * *

"Miyuki!" I laughed at the young girl when she flicked a piece of spaghetti at me. "You brat!" I flung a piece back at her, and she squeaked and ducked.

"Stop encouraging her." Hatsuri said with a chuckle and I pointed my fork at him threateningly. "Shutting up." He muttered before returning to his meal, causing Miyuki to giggle. I winked at her playfully, and then grabbed a small spaghetti string between my fingers, looking purposefully towards our father. Miyuki grinned, following my action. I mouthed 'three… two… one!', and then we both flung the spaghetti at Hatsuri.

"Run!" I squealed as Hatsuri grabbed a handful of his spaghetti. I jumped up so fast my chair tumbled backwards, running over to where Miyuki was, narrowly dodging a blob of spaghetti aimed at my head. I grabbed her around her waist, hoisting her up, causing her to laugh as I ran away with dramatized movement.

"You guys are so mean!" Hatsuri shouted as he chased us.

"Run, Saki!" Miyuki squeaked in alarm and I ran as fast as I could through the house. Then, a knock at the door interrupted our play fight, causing me to set Miyuki down.

"I got it." I said to Hatsuri, who nodded and moved to clean up the mess we'd made. I walked over to the door and pulled it open, tensing up in shock when I saw Gaara standing there. "Gaara?" I blinked in surprised, then confusion. _What the hell? When did I stop being able to feel his chakra…? _I wondered, only just noticing that I couldn't feel anything.

"Who is it?" Miyuki asked curiously as she bounced into the room, but before Gaara could get a good look at her, I yanked her behind me, hiding her from him.

"Relax, Saki." Gaara said coolly, remembering to use my new name. "I'm not here for her. I'm here to speak with you."

"Miyuki, go tell Father that I'm out with a friend, all right?" I said gently as I turned around, moving so that he wasn't able to see her still.

"...Saki… She wants to come…" Miyuki whispered to me softly so only I heard.

"Not yet. She can come in twenty minutes, okay? Exactly twenty minutes." I instructed her quietly and Miyuki nodded. "Now go and tell Father that I'm out with a friend. And don't worry, Miyuki. He really is a friend." I said with a smile and she nodded again, turning and quickly going into the dining room. I turned to face Gaara, suddenly much colder than before. "Shall we?"

* * *

We walked to the top of a sandy hill just outside of the town and I sat down at the top of it. "How are things going with the Jeriko?" Gaara asked coolly and I shrugged.

"They're going." I grunted. "Apparently the personality of the flame itself likes me because Miyuki does, so that makes things easier… And the fire personality is helping me teach Miyuki control. It's only been two weeks, but there's been a lot of progress."

"Sakura…" I narrowed my eyes at him reverting back to my old name. "What's wrong with you?" He asked bluntly and I looked at him, raising an eyebrow at him coldly.

"That's what I was wondering." I looked from the corner of my eye to see Jeriko standing there, looking curious.

"Gaara… This is Jeriko…" I introduced them, frowning at the fact that she came before the twenty minutes were up. Long before.

"I see… What did you mean by that, Jeriko?" Gaara asked, looking at me again, seeming slightly concerned. It didn't make me feel any happier. In fact, it made me feel even more bitter towards him. _Wait… When did I start feeling bitter towards him?_ I wondered in confusion, trying to think back. I realized that it had been developing over time and frowned.

"I'm connected to you as well, Saki, and I noticed something that intrigues me…" Jeriko eyed me, looking completely curious. "When I was still sealed in this body, you were very sad when we first met… Border line suicidal." Gaara's eyes widened slightly. "Then, after we finally accepted that you wouldn't regain your memories and adopted you into the family, you became much happier. You were almost as happy as a normal teenager when you disappeared for two weeks."

"You came back beaten to hell, and too weak to even heal your own wounds, and barely strong enough to heal anyone else's. Which is when you started to train my other half in the art of the medical shinobi… And then, as you slowly grew weaker and weaker, I notice that you became colder and more detached…" I saw that Gaara was listening intently, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to care about her words. I recognized that I should have been alarmed and frightened by this, but I didn't feel anything. _I've been so focused on pretending to be happy because I was depressed that I didn't even realize I've been faking all my emotions…_

"You awoken me, and I observed even closer than before. You don't feel anything, do you?" Jeriko asked with a small smile that was, as usual, sinister. I tilted my head to look at her with a frown.

"You're point?" I asked and she smiled wider, revealing her fangs again.

"And I'd be willing to bet all those laughs and smiles you give my host and your father are all fake, yeah?" She chirped and I just looked at her, causing her to laugh. "You haven't felt anything but cold bitterness in a while."

"I felt anger several days ago… But no. Nothing since then. What's your point?" I inquired and Gaara narrowed his eyes at me.

"What's going on, Sakura? First you tell me that you've been losing your chakra over time, and now you're telling me that you've also been losing your emotions? Why is this happening?" He demanded and I looked at him with a frown.

"Because I gave you my life." He blinked in confusion, so I elaborated. "Obviously I didn't give you all of it, or even half of it, or I'd be either dead or in a coma, but I did give you a good amount of it. Come to think of it, I probably gave ten or twenty years of my life to you. Not that it matters… Shinobi rarely live past forty, and a lot of us are going to die in this war anyways. Point is, since I gave you some of my life but not all of it, you've got a nice chunk of me just stuck to your soul."

"And with it came of a chunk of chakra. But it's surrounded by a bit of my soul, so it isn't blending with the rest of your chakra like it would if I had just given all of my life… So it's trying to balance out by making my chakra and your chakra become even in amount. Thus, I'm losing all of my chakra, and you're getting it. I can only assume that the whole emotion shit is the same with my soul."

"It's suddenly a tiny amount of emotion, so it's trying to get larger and return to normal, which is making mine get smaller and smaller…" I shrugged and Gaara narrowed his eyes.

"How can you fix it?" He asked and I frowned.

"I need blood. Blood spreads your life force and soul throughout your body, so if I can ingest a small amount of yours and my blood together, it'll correct it by connecting us. But when I say connecting, I mean we'd just be the exact same way as before, but our souls will be less confused and will stop fucking shit up." I said with a grunt and Gaara looked at the horizon thoughtfully.

* * *

**Eeeewie. I wanted to come up with something other than blood, cause that kind of grosses me out, but I couldn't. Oh well! Please review! :D**


	17. Finally

**Bleg! Sorry for having not updated sooner. My dad's friend is really sick and they want to do a surgery that will cripple him for life. And my dad's sister, my aunt, is being shipped to Afghanistan in a month and a half, maybe sooner. So it's been kind of hectic...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, sorry.**

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I was sitting in the kitchen, a small vial in front of me on the counter. A thin layer of numerous crushed herbs covered the bottom of the vial, only a couple millimeters thick. I pricked my finger and held it over the vial, letting the blood drip into it. "You're turn." I said to Gaara, who took the needle and did the same to his finger, letting the blood drip into the vial. Finally, after a minute, I grabbed the vial and grunted. I put it to my lips and quickly drank it, then coughed and sputtered at the grossness. "Couldn't Chiyo have come up with a better solution? I definitely don't enjoy drinking the blood of someone I love."

"Love?" Jeriko inquired from where she sat on the counter, watching the process intently.

"Yup. I feel it and everything… and I can feel you again." I added, looking at Gaara. "Give me that." I gently but quickly snatched Gaara's hand up and put my palm on the small scab forming on his fingertip. Then I smiled widely when I saw the wound heal shut. "Yes!" I squealed happily at the fact that I was a medic again, and that I was able to feel happy about it! I flung my arms around Gaara's neck and hugged him tightly, hearing him chuckle quietly and hug me back.

"Aww…. Cute. See that, Miyuki? They're making up, finally." Jeriko chirped, causing me to break the hug and glare at her. She held her hands up in surrender, grinning. For the first time, her smile didn't seem evil. "Relax. Miyuki's real happy about this development, so I am too." She said with laughter in her voice. "Oh, and she wanted me to tell you that it was about time." She said to Gaara, who frowned at this.

"Shut up, brat." I swatted at Jeriko playfully, who ducked, and then paused. "And I was talking to both of you." I added, causing Jeriko to dramatically gasp.

"And here I thought we were finally getting along." I rolled my eyes and raised the sleeve of my yukata up, putting my hand over the bandaged area. I smiled happily when I saw the area around my hand and arm glow, and felt the flesh recovering from the burns. When I was done, I removed the bandages and eyed my suddenly flawless skin… Well, except for the thin lines of black symbols that surrounded my wrist and elbow.

"Finally… That was seriously bothering me." I admitted with a sigh.

"It won't completely go away. It never will. And, unfortunately, whenever Miyuki or I use my powers, the seals on your arm will burn a bit." Jeriko said and I looked at her.

"Seals?" Gaara questioned and Jeriko nodded.

"They seal my powers whenever I try to use them on her. That's why she'll always be immune to me, no matter what. And if you get me angry enough to attacking you enough times, you'll even be able to use a blast of fire if you're in a really tense situation. But it'll take a long ass time for you to gather up that much power, and it can only be used once. Once you use it, all the power is gone, and the seals will go right back to that state, as well as leaving you exhausted."

"Well that doesn't sound useful at all." I commented and Jeriko shrugged.

"It isn't meant to be used in battle. It's meant to be a last resort so that there's less of a chance of you dying. I think falling unconscious is worth it if you kill everyone around you who's a threat." Jeriko said with another shrug. "Anyways, Miyuki wants to go help that friend of hers with something, so I'll see you in a while." Jeriko jumped off the counter and walked towards the door, leaving sight. We both watched the space she had vanished into until we heard the door open and shut.

"She's… odd." Gaara murmured and I frowned.

"Odd?" I questioned and he nodded.

"I'm trying to determine if she's possible to trust." Gaara told me and I sighed.

"I'm in the same boat… But, she's completely controlled by Miyuki's emotions, and Miyuki is a pure hearted girl. I trust her with my life, and so I suppose I trust Jeriko the same." I said and he nodded thoughtfully.

"I didn't realize you had trained anyone." He looked at me questioningly and I sighed.

"I didn't have a choice, really." I said with a frown. "I was losing chakra fast, and I couldn't leave my town and new family to fend for themselves. I was only intended to teach Miyuki to be a doctor, not a medic, but she showed amazing skill so I taught her. Now I realize that's because Jeriko is giving her endless amounts of chakra. She's pretty much useless in battle, though… I was going to train her to fight until I realized she was a Jeriko, at which point I decided it would be too big of a risk."

"I agree. Sending her into battle with uncontrollable mass destructive powers would be a bad idea." Gaara agreed and I laughed softly at his phrasing. It felt strange to laugh and really mean it since I hadn't really been happy in almost two years… Not since I was exiled.

"But I'm still training her to heal and training her in evasion… Just enough for her to save herself and save others." I explained and he nodded.

"A good plan…Sakura, I want to tell you something." He said seriously and I frowned before nodding for him to continue. "When I was a child, I was hated by everyone. No one would come near me, and everyone would run away if I even got within eyesight of them." Gaara confessed with a sigh. "My father was a wretched man."

"Amen." I muttered and Gaara smirked slightly in amusement before it faded from his expression.

"He… spoiled me. For a while, I thought that was just his way of loving me, but I was wrong. It was actually my uncle Yashamaru who really raised me. He treated me with kindness, and never blamed me when I would accidently hurt the other children. He would heal them and once he even let me help him with that… But it wasn't real love." He sighed heavily again. "He tried to care for me, but he couldn't get past the fact that his sister, my mother, was dead because of me."

"You see, my father was a heartless man…" He turned to look at me, meeting my gaze. "He used my mother as the sacrifice to seal Shukaku within me… Not only that, but while she was still pregnant." My eyes widened in shock. _Oh god… How terrible…_ "She died in absolute agony because of him… And with her last breath, she swore revenge on my father. At least, that's how Yashamaru told the story…But things changed. My father started to send people to kill me when I was only five years old."

"I didn't understand it at first… but one night I was very unhappy and was sitting on the roof of my home… when I was attacked. I fought back, severely injuring my attacker… And then he took off his mask." Gaara put a hand over his eyes as he leaned on the counter. "It was Yashamaru." I put a hand over my mouth, staring at him with wide eyes that I felt fill with tears. "He told me that it was my father who ordered him to kill me. I tried to convince myself that he only did it because he was ordered, but he told me that wasn't the case… He explained that in reality, he wanted me to die so he could finally let my mother rest in peace."

"He had covered himself with explosive tags… The last words he ever said to me before blowing himself up were 'please die'… and I had wanted to. I didn't move the sand, but Shukaku still did it to ensure his own survival. That night was when I gave myself this scar." He pulled his hand from his eyes and touched the symbol on his forehead, and I wanted to break down at the sorrow clear in Gaara's eyes. I felt tears slip from my eyes and hit the ground. "That's why it took me so long to forgive you, Sakura, even after I found out you were innocent. I didn't know if I could really trust you until you got back to normal a few minutes ago." Gaara explained and I nodded, still tearing up.

"It's fine, Gaara. Really. I understand…" I assured him, a few more tears slipping from my eyes.

"Why are you crying?" He asked softly, putting his hand on my cheek and wiping them away with his thumb. The gesture brought more tears to my eyes as I realized the extent of how much I missed him.

"I'm crying for you, Gaara." I murmured and he sighed softly.

"Stupid girl…" He said quietly before pressing his lips to mine. I relished in the heavily missed emotions that soared through me at the action, returning it immediately. After a few moments, we pulled apart, and Gaara looked at me with kind eyes for the first time in almost two years. "Sakura, I want you to come back to Sunagakure."

"Gaara… I…" I bit my lip. _I want to go back with him… I really do, but… I can't leave Miyuki here, and I won't separate her from her father, or from this town…_ I thought, about to say something when Gaara spoke.

"You don't need to do it now, Sakura. I understand that your new family is important to you…" He said quietly and I nodded.

"But I will come to Sunagakure often, Gaara. I swear… I miss you immensely." I told him softly and he looked at me with a small frown. Then I frowned as well. "Damn, this is so weird."

"What is?" He asked and I sighed.

"I'm used to not really feeling anything and being weak. I just bounced back to emotional and super strength in less than five seconds. It's very disorienting." I grumbled under my breath, and Gaara chuckled softly.

"I imagine so…" He said and I smiled lightly at an idea that hit me.

"I have an idea to help me get used to it…" I said mischievously and Gaara raised an eyebrow at me. "Race you to Suna!" I squealed before dashing out of the house as fast as I could, laughing when I sensed Gaara follow.

* * *

I was sitting on the edge of Gaara's desk, my legs hanging over the edge and nearly touching his from where he sat. "Done." Gaara said, setting his pen down and looking me in the eye. "You're a free woman." He informed me and I grinned happily.

"Sweet! There's only one thing to do now!" I chirped happily and he raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. I leaned down and kissed him, smiling against his lips. "Not leave the office for several hours." I whispered teasingly and Gaara leaned away from the kiss, rolling his eyes at me. I pouted playfully, sitting upright. "Oh, fine. I'll behave."

"I doubt that." Gaara said and I looked at him to see him looking at me with a suppressed smile. I lightly smacked his shoulder, laughing softly.

"Hey, Gaara?" I asked when I noticed the paper sitting beside me, playfulness evaporating. "How are we setting up the fighting teams?"

"There are nine divisions. The Surprise Attack Division is being led by Kankurou. Sai is the only one in it who you would know… The Logistical Support and Medical Division is led by Shizune, Tsunade's old apprentice. The Intelligence Division will be led by Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's father… Then the Sensor Division is led by Ao, the Mizukage's bodyguard. The First Division is the Mid-Range Battle Division, led by Darui, the Raikage's bodyguard. The Second Division is the Short-Range Battle Division and is led by Kitsuchi, the Tsuchikage's son…"

"The Third Division is the Short-to-Mid-Range Battle Division, led by Kakashi Hatake. Rock Lee and his mentor are in that group. The Forth Division is the Long-Range Battle Division, led by myself with Shikamaru being the proxy commander, and Temari is in it. The Fifth Division is the Special Battle Division led by Mifune, the samurai leader. Ino is in that division." He explained and I nodded thoughtfully.

"Well… Now that I have my chakra back and I'm no longer exiled…" I trailed off meaningfully and Gaara nodded.

"If you joined, you'd be in the Third Division under Kakashi because of how you fight. That, or you'd be in the medical division." He said and I shook my head.

"No, I'd rather be put in Kakashi's division." I said with a thoughtful look. "I'm of more use fighting than healing, I think."

"It's your choice, Sakura. I'll inform everyone at the next meeting." He said gently and I looked at him with loving eyes.

"I love you, Gaara… it's been unbearable without you."

"I know… It's been the same way for me…" Gaara admitted with a sigh, and I smiled at how he actually allowed me to see what he felt instead of hiding it away like he usually did.

"I'm still going to be away for five days a week until the battle gets closer." I said with a frown and he nodded. "But I'll be here every weekend, from Friday night to Monday morning. That way we have plenty of time for nightly activities." I added with a playful wink and Gaara sighed.

"I knew you couldn't behave." He said with mock exasperation and I grinned at him in a 'you-know-it' manner.

* * *

I laid down beside Gaara that night, putting my head on the unoccupied pillow and closed my eyes. Then… I was flying… No, I was floating. I felt light as a feather, the world around me bathed in a golden white light. I felt so… peaceful… that I didn't notice the presence beside me until I felt a hand gently touch my shoulder. I should have been surprised, but instead I just felt even more relaxed. I looked to the side to see a beautiful woman with wavy pink hair in a light blue han fu dress. "I can't wait, Sakura…" The woman murmured, her voice soft and loving, but also slightly echoing in the white abyss.

"Mother?" I questioned in confusion, and the woman smiled lovingly.

"I'll see you soon, my daughter_._"

* * *

**What the frak? :O Gaara and Sakura finally made up, but what's with this ominous dream of hers?**


	18. Ready

**Bleck... Well, I was just informed this evening that my aunt does NOT get 28 days of leave before getting shipped to Afghanistan. They gave her two days notice saying that she would get a week of leave, which would have started today... But after spending two thousand dollars on a plan ticket on such short notice, they called her a few hours ago to tell her she doesn't even get that much. Oh joy. So not only did my aunt waste two thousand dollars, nonrefundable, but my grandparents, who live off barely any retirement money, spent a thousand dollars on tickets and now can't get those refunded either **

**Joys of the military.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do now own an ulcer thanks to the explanation above.**

* * *

"I'll see you soon, my daughter…" The beautiful woman whispered with a loving smile. My eyes flew open with a jolt, and I shot upright.

"Sakura?" Gaara questioned, alarmed by my sudden awaken and heavy breathing. "Are you all right?" He asked, putting a hand on my back.

"I…" I took a deep breath. _What the hell was that?_ I wondered as I took in frantic breaths. _I don't remember what I dreamt about, but it sure as hell scared the shit out of me…_ I thought, frowning deeply as I tried to recall. "I don't know… I think I had a bad dream…"

"It didn't look like it… You were sleeping very peacefully." Gaara said in a slightly confused tone. I rubbed my forehead with my eyes closed for a moment before opening them and lowering my hand to my lap. Gaara placed his hand over mine, his other hand still against my back.

"That's so strange…" I muttered, sighing softly.

"You can't remember it?" He asked and I nodded. I ran a hand through my long hair and frowned.

"I need to get this cut. It was okay to have it so long when I wasn't a shinobi, but now that I am again, it's too much work to keep it clean and brushed." I said suddenly and Gaara nodded.

"I liked it better short anyway." Gaara said as he toyed with the ends of my hair absentmindedly.

"Gaara… You're worried." I said softly, recognizing his expression and actions that indicate his worry. "What about?"

"There are only two Jinchuuriki left, Sakura. Naruto and the Raikage's brother… They're being kept hidden without their knowledge, but I can't help but think that they'll realize what's happening." Gaara said with a sigh.

"Gaara…" I began hesitantly, gaining his attention. "I think you're right. I think they will realize it." I said and he frowned. "But I don't think it's a bad thing."

"…We are talking about the same Naruto here, right?" He asked pointedly and I smiled slightly.

"Look, I spoke with him recently… Not even two months ago. He's changed a lot, Gaara. He's responsible and actually stops to think before doing things. He's strong, too, Gaara. Damn strong." I said before looking at him determinedly. "And I _pray_ he's there on the battlefield, Gaara, because we're damn well going to need him."

* * *

I spun around and threw my leg out, my foot colliding with a solid block of sand, causing it to burst into little grains of sand. The instant it burst, though, it solidified again in the shape of a block. Without hesitation, I slammed my fist into it, and it solidified again. Then, another one appeared behind me at the same time the first one came at me. I kicked one and punched the other, but they immediately reformed.

I sparred for almost an entire hour until I was panting heavily from being so worn out. "Break." I called to Gaara, who stood several feet away, and he nodded curtly at me. "How was it?" I asked as he walked closer to me.

"You went for almost ten minutes longer than last time." He stated and I nodded.

"Not quite as much as I wanted, but I'll take what I can get." I grunted as he handed me a bottle of water. I smiled gratefully at him before drinking the entire thing quickly. "Are you hungry?" I asked him when I was done drinking and he nodded.

"Come." He said, immediately taking my hand and lifting us into the air on his sand.

"By all means, don't ask for my permission." I said teasingly and he glanced at me before focusing on where he was taking us. It only took a minute before he took us to the ground in front of a small restaurant. I smiled as he led me into the place. The waitress paused in surprise before grabbing two menus and quickly leading us toward a booth slightly separated from the rest. I sat down across from Gaara and took my menu, noticing that several people around us had quieted down and began to speak in hushed whispers, sending glanced my way.

"Hm. I didn't realize I was so popular." I murmured with a small frown.

"It's not every day someone tries to kill the Kazekage." Gaara mused without even looking up from his menu, and I grinned.

"You think they'd have enough sense to stop muttering about me then. After all, I must be one crazy ass chick if I was trying to kill you." I said teasingly and he chuckled softly. "So when's the next meeting?" I asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. It will be whenever and wherever the Raikage decides to have us gather everyone at. The battle is coming soon…"

"Yeah… I noticed that everyone's really busy. I haven't seen Temari or Kankurou yet, and I've been coming here the last two weekends…" I said thoughtfully.

"Kankurou's been busy with the Kage's, going from village to village plotting out his attacks. And Temari's been helping Shikamaru plan in Konoha." Gaara explained and I nodded.

"How is Konoha anyways? I heard it was being rebuilt pretty fast." I recalled with a small smile.

"It is. It's going a bit slower now that so many shinobi are busy, but it's almost halfway rebuilt already. Carpenters are going there from all over the place, even from other countries. In fact, almost all of our carpenters went there the second we heard." Gaara said and I blinked in surprise.

"Really? Wow… I kind of hope this whole working together thing will last, but I'm not naïve to really believe it would."

"I understand what you mean. It's almost peaceful…" Gaara murmured and I grinned.

"Well, except for the crazy psychopath trying to kill us all." I pointed out with a small laugh. Gaara let out a soft chuckle, effectively silencing the people behind us from sheer shock. "You need to get out more, Gaara. You'd have more friends if you smile." I teased, poking my tongue out at him. I was shocked when he immediately kissed me, pulling away only when the need for air became evident. After we caught our breath, I raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, ignoring the fact that everyone was silent in the restaurant.

"Don't stick your tongue out. One might see it as an invitation." He said simply as our food arrived. I thanked the waitress as she carefully set down my plate and then scurried away.

"Good lord, Gaara. I love you, you know that?" I asked with a grin and he just nodded, causing me to roll my eyes playfully. I looked around the restaurant, frowning slightly. "It's so strange."

"What is?" Gaara asked curiously as he ate.

"Being here again after so long…" I mused quietly. "It's very… nostalgic." Gaara didn't say anything, so I just silently continued eating until we were both done. After paying the check, we left and headed back to the training field, where he attacked me and I evaded until nightfall.

* * *

I was standing in front of the bathroom sink, my hair wet and tied up in a bun. I was staring at my hands, slowly bending each finger to my palm. However, none of the fingers on my right hand would bend all the way. In fact, none of my fingertips on my right hand would even move, so I was only bending them up to the middle of each finger. "Damn…" I muttered, narrowing my eyes. I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror, immediately gasping and stumbling backwards in surprise.

I was covered in blood from hundreds of gashes all across the left side of my body. My back slammed into the wall, the towel rack smacking painfully into my shoulder. I blinked in shock and when I opened my eyes, I looked perfectly normal again. Minus the pale skin and trembling limbs, that is. _What the hell was that?_ I asked, stunned and honestly afraid of what I just saw. I reached up shakily and rubbed my sore shoulder, staring intently at the mirror, half expecting it to show me bleeding to death again.

When it didn't after five minutes, I sighed and started to get dressed. Afterwards I walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed, and made my way towards the living room. I almost made it, too, and probably would have if not for a certain blonde haired woman barreling into me and hugging me all the way to the ground. "Ouch! Jesus, Temari!" I yelped, laughing slightly as the woman hugged me.

"It's about damn time! It's been forever!" She said, hugging the life out of me.

"Tem… Need air." I teased and she pulled away, standing up and offering me her hand. I took several deep breaths before taking it, letting her yank me to my feet. "Good lord, woman. You act like we didn't meet just a couple months ago." I mock complained and Temari rolled her eyes at me.

"That's cause we didn't even really talk. I hugged you and made plans to talk to you, but _someone_ bailed." Temari reminded me and I frowned. _That's right… I completely forgot…_ I thought, tilting my head to the side. _I felt bad because Shikamaru's mentor was killed by the same people who tried to kill me… Weird. I don't feel anything about it now. Guess I just realized it wasn't even remotely my fault._

"Sorry about that. It's complicated." I said, waving it off. No need to tell them that the same now-dead Akatsuki team that killed her boyfriend's mentor was after me too. "So I heard Sasuke's a crazy ass mother fucker now." I said with a playful note, but Temari became very serious.

"Yeah, he sure is… Sakura, how out of the loop have you been kept?" She asked seriously and I met her gaze strongly.

"Less so than you all." I admitted and Temari blinked in surprise.

"How?" She asked with a frown.

"Tem, I've been living as a medic on the Land of Wind's border for two years. We have hundreds of different breeds of passerby's, ranging from shinobi to cold-hearted peasant thieves. And I'm the one they all come to first. Well, except for Shinobi, since I hide from them. Point is, I hear everything from people who _aren't_ shinobi. And you'd be surprised how much more they know." I said with a soft sigh as we sat down on the sofa.

"I can't believe this… What do you know?" She asked and I frowned.

"I know that the Akatsuki only has three people in it now, Tem. That creepy plant guy, Madara, and Sasuke…"

"Yeah. Don't forget the seven different tailed-beasts just waiting to kill us all. Face it, Sakura. We've got a tiny chance of survival." Temari said with a sigh.

"So?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "I don't see you're point, Temari. Are you trying to insinuate that because the chances of success are so small, we should all just hang up our weapons and call it a day while Madara conquers everything? That's a great plan, Temari!" I exclaimed cheerfully, causing Temari too look at me like I was insane. "Except for one tiny fact." I said, growing deadly serious again. "We're shinobi, Tem. And shinobi do not give in. We do not kneel, bow, grovel, or pray to _anyone_ who isn't our _rightful_ leader." I said, before smiling softly. **(Bipolar much? xD)**

"Besides… I know that Madara has something up his sleeve…" Temari gave me a 'no-shit-Sherlock' look, but I just smiled. "But I have something even bigger than he could imagine up my sleeve… And only a handful of people know about it." I said softly. "And you won't be one of them, Temari. Not because I don't trust you, but because I won't force you to walk among your panicking friends and family holding back the fact that we have a trump card… and it's that very trump card that win this war and let all of us return home safely."

Temari started at me doubtfully for a few moments before nodded. "I'll take your word for it, Sak, and will settle for praying you're right." She finally said with a heavy sigh. "Anyways, I only came back to grab something I needed. It looks like I'm going to be in Konoha until the next gather, whenever that will be." Temari said as she stood.

"I see. Well, it was good to see you again, Temari." I smiled as we walked towards the door. Just before she left, I hugged her and whispered in her ear. "We'll win this war, Tem. I swear."

* * *

"Miyuki, focus." I said with a soft sigh as I sat on a rock several miles away from the town. Miyuki sat on another rock a couple feet away, cross legged with her eyes shut.

"I am, Saki." Miyuki said, her voice calm. I smiled slightly in approval. I was doing very simply exercises to train her to not feel emotions when needed. She would still feel things, but when she was fighting, all emotions would be forgotten. It was actually a very simply procedure that I learned as a child from Chiyo. All you would do is keep your expression and voice completely emotionless while thinking about things that enraged you. Eventually, the emotionless factor would spread to the things that would usually anger you.** (Believe it or not, this does work. Not completely, mind you, but because Jeriko is helping to suppress Miyuki's emotions, it does work for her)**

It was also a quick process, only taking a few months to perfect. Of course, there would always be things that would cause extreme sorrow or anger, so that's where Jeriko came in. I was working alongside her to trained Miyuki to immediately calm her emotions using a simple word, which I decided to use 'focus' as. This training was more difficult because it took more complex things, but I did it alongside the other training. When Miyuki's emotion control would start to waver while thinking infuriating things, I would say 'focus' and she would start to calm down again.

At first it just made her angrier, but she would slowly calm down. After months, it immediately made her calm down, and it made me smile to see the same effect happen now. _She'll be ready for the battle… Thank god. Now we really do have a chance._

**

* * *

Woohoo! Story is coming to it's climax, people! Please review! ^^**


	19. So It Begins

**Sorry I took so long! My grandparents were visiting for a week and we were so busy I forgot about you all T.T We all went up to the Valley of Fire, which was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Tons of fun up at rainbow ridge with all the hiking :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Miyuki. *huggles***

* * *

"Uhg… This is so weird." I whined as I stood in Gaara's room, Miyuki sitting cross-legged on the floor beside me as I fumbled with the shinobi uniform I was wearing. It was very uncomfortable since I hadn't worn the uniform in so long, and I never once wore a shinobi jounin vest. It felt like it was constricting my chest, even though it was on loose. "God damn it!" I hissed in anger.

"Would you calm down, Saki? It's just a vest. You're acting like we're asking you to carry a boulder around on your back." Miyuki huffed and I glared at Gaara's reflection in the mirror.

"Which would be easy. At least I'm used to doing that." I grumbled unhappily, still messing with the vest in a vain attempt to make it more comfortable.

"That's true. Remember the time that boulder fell and trapped father in a cave? Or the time it was raining really badly and a mudslide sent a bunch of them into the town and broke father's leg? Or the time-" Miyuki stopped at the look on Gaara's face.

"Our father is a clumsy moron." I stated in an amused tone, and Miyuki giggled.

"He really is. Remember the time he was rebuilding the wall around that big window of yours that got smashed during the mudslide, and he ended up breaking his thumb _and_ his arm?" Miyuki asked, bursting into laughter. I laughed softly as well, appreciating that she was trying to cheer me up. I sighed unhappily with the tightness on my chest, but decided to ignore it.

"Sakura… I need to speak with the other Kage's. The battle will be soon." Gaara said suddenly and I turned around to look him in the eye.

"All right…" I agreed hesitantly, not feeling very comfortable where we were. A month had passed since I spoke with Temari, and I was finally satisfied that I could keep Miyuki in line, even while fighting. Gaara arranged it so I would be moved to the same team as her, which meant I was in the Long-Range division now, which _also_ meant that I was in Gaara's division. I still wasn't sure if he had planned that or not. I walked over to Gaara and hugged him tightly, pressing my forehead to his shoulder for a moment before letting go and smiling at him.

"I will see you soon." He said before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind him. I let out a heavy and unhappy sigh before turning to face Miyuki, looking at her sternly.

"I don't care what he says. I'm wearing my goddamn hitai-ate however the hell I want to." I grumbled and Miyuki giggled. "Now then, little miss giggles… How about you help me with my hair?" I asked as I held up a pair of scissors from off the dresser.

* * *

A lot of hassle and twenty minutes later, I turned my head as I looked in the mirror, admiring our work on my hair. Instead of the lower-back length hair that I had before, I now had just above shoulder-length hair. "That is so much better." I sighed happily at the lightness.

"Saki-chan…" Miyuki said suddenly and I looked over at her, frowning at the worried expression she wore.

"What's wrong, Miyuki-chan?" I asked her affectionately, sitting down on the floor next to her.

"I'm afraid… I'm only ten years old… How am I going to be any help?" She asked, looking at me with tear filled eyes that broke my heart.

"Miyuki…" I sighed sadly, putting my arm around her shoulders and hugging her against my side. "You're too young for this fight. I'm ashamed of myself for even agreed to you being here, honestly… But that's not because you aren't strong. No, Miyuki, you're stronger than I am." I said with a small, sad smile. "But you're still so young. I feel terrible that you'll go through this because of me… War is a nasty thing, Miyuki. It's not right that you'll have to experience it at such a young age. But we need you, Miyuki."

"Because of her?" Miyuki asked, referring to Jeriko.

"Yes. And because you're a healer. With your healing and your flames, you'll save thousands, Miyuki. But you'll also have to kill the people trying to kill us… Can you do that?" I asked her gently and she looked at me seriously.

"I… I think I can, Saki-chan. I lost my mom because of evil men. I almost lost you to the bad guys we're fighting." She said sadly and I nodded. "And they hurt and killed a lot of other people's families. I think I can… kill them because of that." Miyuki said hesitantly and I nodded.

"You'll have to kill, Miyuki. Whether to protect someone else or to protect yourself. We need you to live through this and help us win. You can kill as little as you want, but you need to keep this in mind. Anyone who doesn't get killed ends up going and killing our allies and friends. We're up against blood thirsty and heartless murderers, sweetie." I said as softly as I could, knowing I was talking to a ten year old child, but also knowing that she had to understand. Otherwise she would freeze up and not act in time to save others or herself, and we needed her for the fight since Naruto and the Hachibi weren't fighting.

She was our only trump card.

* * *

"In the First, Second, and Third wars, each country and village fought for their own gain, as shinobi, and hated and hurt one another. That hatred bred a lust for power, which gave birth to me." Gaara said after he used his sand to end the second fight to break out in the ranks. "I too used to be a host, an embodiment of hatred and power. I hated everyone and wanted to destroy the world, just as Akatsuki is attempting to do now… But one Konoha shinobi stopped all of that." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment and I looked down sadly at the memories. Miyuki grabbed my hand tightly, and I smiled at her softly as Gaara began to speak again.

"He was my enemy, but he cried for me. I caused him pain, yet he called me a friend! He saved me!" Gaara shouted to everyone. "We were enemies, but he was a host too. There are no grudged when you understand another's pain!" I watched him intently, everyone else in the army doing the same. "There are no enemies here! We have all suffered because of Akatsuki! There is no Suna, or Iwa. No Konoha, Kiri, or Kumo! There is only shinobi! And if you still cannot forgive Suna, then once the war is over, you can take my head!" Gaara shouted and I stared at him.

"The enemy is now after that very friend who saved me! If the enemy gets their hands on him, the world will be over. I want to protect my friend, and I want to protect the world! But I am too young to do so alone! I need all of you to help me!" Gaara declared, and the response was immediate.

"Of course we will, Gaara-sama!" A man shouted immediately, and thousands of other shinobi voiced their agreement cheerfully. I smiled as Miyuki jumped up and down, yelling 'You got it!' on the top of her lungs, feeling my morale burst immediately. I smiled brightly at Gaara, and I could have sworn that for a brief second, he smiled back. I watched as the army broke into their respective squads, the squad leaders making their way down quickly. I placed myself and Miyuki in the front line of the squad, right where I was assigned, and waited.

It didn't even take a minute for Gaara to reach us, and I watched as everyone lined up in perfect coordination. In front of their respective groups were Mifune, then Kakashi to his right, and to Kakashi's right was Gaara, to Gaara's right was Kitsuchi, and to his right was Darui. "Miyuki." I murmured to the young girl who clutched my hand desperately. "Focus." I said under my breath, immediately feeling Miyuki relax, now entirely focused. _Good… But my success doesn't make me feel any better about her being here…_ I thought sadly, staying completely focused on Gaara's back.

I watched as Gaara suddenly ran forward, and everyone, including Miyuki and I, immediately charged after him without any hesitation.

"Kazekage-sama!" One of the sensors in the group called out suddenly, and Gaara glanced over his shoulder at me briefly before focusing ahead, never once slowing down.

"Stay here, Miyuki." I said before jumping over the various shinobi and landed just beside the sensor who shouted. "What's the problem?" I asked him seriously. He looked at me distrustfully for a moment. "Look, Gaara asked me to come back here, so if you can't trust me, trust him." I said quietly and after a moment, he nodded. No one but Gaara, Temari, Baki, Kankurou, and my sister and father knew that I never had any intention of killing Gaara. It wasn't a secret; I just didn't care enough to ask Gaara to make an announcement. People would be distrustful of me anyways, so why even bother?

"Two enemies are approaching from the north." He murmured and I frowned deeply.

"Only two?" I asked with a frown and he nodded.

"It's strange… They are so well organized. I don't understand why they are only sending two people against us. There are thousands of us in this division alone." The man said in a confused tone.

"It's bound be a trap. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious." I said and he raised an eyebrow at me. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, not an eye. Keep a whatever-you-use-to-sense-shit out for anything suspicious." I corrected myself sarcastically, but smiled lightly at the man to show I was just playing. He had no reaction to my teasing, so I jumped back to the front beside Miyuki.

"A problem?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing we can't handle." I said before running forward to run beside Gaara.

"What is it?" He asked without looking at me.

"Two enemies from the north." I said quietly to him.

"Only two?" He asked in surprise and I nodded.

"Exactly my reaction. I told him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, because either it's a trap, or it's two very strong people." I said softly and he nodded dismissively. I fell back to my place in the line silently, looking around discreetly for anything out of the ordinary. "Miyuki, if for some reason I get separated from you-"

"I know. Stick with Gaara-sama." Miyuki said with a smile, and I nodded at her.

"Exactly. But don't worry. If we get separated, I can find Gaara without a problem." I assured her and she frowned.

"So that's why you need me to stick with him?" She asked and I nodded again. "Oh. How do you know where to find him?" She asked curiously.

"It's a secret." I said, winking at her. Miyuki giggled, but I noticed she looked a little worn out. "Here, Mi. I'll carry you for a bit." She opened her mouth to protest, so I went on quickly. "Just until you catch your breath. You didn't have a lot of time to perfect your speed, you know." I reminded her and she sighed.

"All right." She agreed and quickly climbed onto my back while I ran. I noticed the guy beside me watching us oddly, so I frowned at him.

"What? She's a kid." I said defensively and the man looked forward again.

"Sakura…" Miyuki murmured in my ear so only I would hear, but the voice was Jeriko's.

"Jeriko?" I asked softly in alarm.

"Don't worry. Miyuki's still in control, I'm just talking through her so I can speak to you without alerting anyone by changing form…" Jeriko whispered. "I'm worried about something."

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

"There's something strange in the air. Be careful, Sakura…" She murmured, barely finishing the last word before the sensor shouted out.

"Incoming!" He cried out just before I felt my body lurch backward, knocking Miyuki from my back. I let out a cry of alarm as I was yanked backwards, hitting several shinobi that were unfortunate enough to be behind me. I watched as Gaara reached for me, sand flying from his gourd and swiftly wrapping around my waist, pulling me back and freeing me from whatever was pulling me the other way. I slammed into the ground on my side, but was completely unharmed because sand pooled underneath me, breaking my fall. I jumped to my feet and spun to face whoever had just attacked me, and my eyes immediately widened in shock.

* * *

**Right... Before it goes on any further, let me just make this clear. I wrote this story 2 months ago, so all the recent development doesn't apply in this story. I _could_ go back and re write it all, but it would be time consuming, and frankly I quite like my story as it is. Hopefully you all do as well... Please review! Reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!**


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